


Across the Street

by heatgeneratingtechniques



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Neighbors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-08-15 18:31:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8068216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heatgeneratingtechniques/pseuds/heatgeneratingtechniques
Summary: A lonely Rhett falls for another man who moves into his neighborhood, not realizing how much they have in common.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> re-post from [Tumblr](http://heatgeneratingtechniques.tumblr.com/post/147766528029/across-the-street-chapter-1)
> 
> [“Same Old Train”](https://open.spotify.com/track/5KMWwtJv3Ll2ROZfMerQs0) is the song mentioned in this chapter

"Morning," called a voice from across the street.

Rhett felt his heart seize up as he retrieved his newspaper from the end of the driveway. One of the new neighbors was talking to him. "Morning," he called back, smiling, hoping that his voice was casual, normal.

"This weather's been great, hasn't it?"

Rhett forced out a chuckle. "It sure has!"

He wished he’d put on something more presentable than the old t-shirt and pajama bottoms he’d slept in last night. The man across the street climbed into his car and drove off to work. Rhett pretended to be busy glancing through the paper.

He wished he'd been able to think of something more interesting to say. Shaking his head, he shuffled back up the driveway to his house.

~

Rhett lived alone, at the end of a cul-de-sac on the edge of an open field. For the most part, the neighbors on his quiet street left him to his own devices. He spent his days working upstairs in his office and his evenings whittling or carving while sitting on the porch, gazing across the street while his mind wandered to times and places far away.  


The little house across the street had stood unoccupied for months since the previous owners - a noisy family of four - had moved away. The paint was peeling, and vines had begun creeping up the side of the house. Every few weeks, one of the neighbor’s sons came by with the lawnmower to keep the grass from getting too overgrown, but for the most part, the house remained untouched.

Then a month ago, Rhett saw a flurry of activity in the driveway. A remodeling company crew set up shop there. For the next couple of weeks the peaceful cul-de-sac was disrupted early in the morning by sawing, hammering, and yelled orders. The crew tore up the old carpet, put down new hardwood flooring, and repainted the house’s light blue exterior. From his upstairs office window, Rhett watched with a mixture of curiosity and irritation. The noise often lasted all day, distracting him from work.

All of this was forgotten when the neighbors moved in.

Rhett saw the movers unload their truck that morning. He watched with a sense of bored curiosity; he’d already spent plenty of time speculating on the type of people who would be moving in.

 _Probably another loud family_ , he thought, frowning. _Great._

A sleek gray car drove up. Two men stepped from the car, both sharply dressed and dark-haired. The taller one gathered a dachshund into his arms. For a moment, he paused to kiss the little dog on the top of the head.

He wasn’t as tall as Rhett, but he was very slim. His hair tumbled over his glasses and around his face in thick dark curls. His clothes hugged his frame in a lovely way that held Rhett’s gaze for longer than he would have liked to admit.

The other man opened the trunk and pulled out a suitcase that he rolled into the house. The first man strode halfway across the lawn and stopped, tilting his head back to look up at his new home.

Rhett reached out and eased the window open. A breeze of cool, late spring air wafted in and with it came the sound of the man singing, his clear tenor voice carrying easily across the street. At the sound of his voice, Rhett felt as if someone had whisked him from his office and deposited him back in his college dorm room, right by the old radio he'd kept on his dresser. He knew this song.

_They came from the hills and mountains,_  
The valleys and the plains  
Some were kind and gentle,  
And some too wild to tame  
A string of fearless hearts, on an endless ball of twine  
It's the same old train, it's just a different time... 

The man's singing trailed off. He shook his head, chuckling to himself, and sauntered inside the house.

Rhett stared after him long after he closed the front door, the unfinished work on his laptop forgotten. Hearing that song stirred something within him that he had long thought was lost.

Hours later, he found himself sitting cross-legged on the floor, guitar in his hands. He strummed through old songs that he hadn’t heard in years. His laptop sat forgotten on the desk behind him.

That evening, he forced himself to leave the house for the first time all week. He remembered being told that offering food was a good way to welcome new neighbors, so he brought along a pound cake he’d baked a little while earlier.

The door opened after a few knocks. It was the shorter of the two men. His light brown hair stuck out in all directions, as if he had just gotten up from a nap.

“Yes.” Eyebrows raised in mild exasperation.

“Hello.” Rhett gestured with the cake. “I saw you just moved in. I’m Rhett. I live across the street.” The man didn’t move. “Just wanted to say welcome to the neighborhood.”

After a moment, the man’s expression softened. “Thanks.” He accepted the cake. “I’m Andrew. I’ll save some of this for my, ah, my friend when he gets home. He’s out walking the dog, I think.”

Rhett asked a few more questions, cracked a few awkward jokes. Andrew loosened up a bit. He and his friend - his “housemate,” he called him - had just moved up to Pennsylvania from North Carolina, as their jobs had transferred both of them to the area. They’d been friends for a few years and had moved in together several months ago.

The most important piece of information: the other man’s name was Charles.

~

After that, Rhett made a point of timing his newspaper retrieval to coincide with Charles leaving his house for work. He didn't know why he felt compelled to talk to him; they never discussed anything more important than sports or the weather. He didn't know why he wished he could think of an excuse to hear Charles sing. He just wanted to hear that voice again. Badly.

It was a trying habit of his, he knew. His tendency for obsession over things that other people never thought twice about. It had brought him success in his work-from-home job as a business analyst. Back when he was still living in California, there had been times when his friends just shook their heads at him when they found him surrounded by paper as he attempted calligraphy, or when he brought home a croquet set because he wanted to learn how to play. They knew as well as him that most of his obsessions, or layers, as he preferred to call them, ended up getting thrown out or forgotten days or weeks later.

One morning, after a particularly long night of analyzing statistics, Rhett awoke to find the birds outside already twittering madly. He sprang up with a muttered, “Gosh...” He had been so engrossed in playing guitar that he'd forgotten to set his alarm the previous night.. He dashed to his office window and looked out.

Charles' car was already gone for the day.

He didn't know why, but his heart sank at the sight.

Annoyed, he got dressed, ate breakfast, settled himself in the office for another long day of staring at spreadsheets. Every now and then he looked up, but the house across the street remained quiet.

As he glanced at the house for the thousandth time, something caught his eye. There was a small animal sniffling around the corner, padding through the flowers beneath the front window with tail held high.

The new neighbors’ dachshund.

Rhett didn't have a particularly strong opinion on dogs. He'd had one growing up in California, but since moving to the East Coast he'd resisted the urge to get one to keep him company. Because of the cost, he'd told himself.

But now, as he watched the dog trot towards the street, an idea crossed his mind. He stuck his feet into his slippers and shuffled outside. The dog stopped when it saw Rhett approach, but made no attempt to run.

"Hey," Rhett said quietly as he eased himself closer. "Hey, you're _his_ dog, aren'tcha? How'd you get out here all by yourself?"

He stopped a little ways from the dog, crouched down, and put out a hand. After a moment, it came closer, sniffing his hand for treats.

Rhett caught a glimpse of its glinting tags. "Jade, huh?" he said, half-to-himself. "Why don't we get you back to your family?"

But no one was home. Rhett rang the doorbell and waited for a while, Jade nestled in the crook of his arm. She didn’t seem to mind being held by a complete stranger. When he looked down at her, she licked him square on the nose.

"Oh!" He chuckled at that. "Hey. Why don't you come home with me for a bit?"

He took her back to his house, planning on letting her run around in the backyard while he worked inside. But when he set her down on the grass and turned to go back in, she whined and scampered around his ankles, her face turned up to him imploringly. She was so obvious in her begging for attention that Rhett had to smile.

“Okay, okay,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”

He grabbed a lawn chair from the garage and sat in the yard, Jade alternating between sniffing around the yard and sitting on his lap. She was obviously a well cared-for dog, with her new tags and glossy coat, so Rhett wondered how she could have gotten out.

He didn’t know how long he sat there, daydreaming about ways to return Jade that would lead to him and Charles talking about music, but he jumped when he heard a car door slam. He rushed to the side of the house and peered across the street.

Charles’ car was back.

“Jade!” Rhett hissed. Now that the moment was here, he felt unreasonably nervous. He crossed the street with Jade in his arms. As he rang the doorbell, he had the sudden urge to put Jade down on the welcome mat and run back to the safety of his own house. But he resisted; he wasn’t a child.

Charles answered the door quickly. The sight of him up close was enough to freeze Rhett’s thoughts in their tracks. His dark hair was disheveled, his tie hanging loosely around his neck, his tortoiseshell glasses askew. His eyes were blue, Rhett noticed, before wondering _why_ he had noticed.

“Hello,” Rhett said. “I’m Rhett. I live-” He gestured behind him. “-across the street. You know. Um... your dog got out.”


	2. Chapter 2

When Link first moved into their new house, he was far from optimistic about the future. He had been transferred and promoted at work, which should have been a good thing, but all he could think about was how much he hated his job. Long hours of planning, meetings, and pages and pages of reports that made his eyes ache. Before he’d started wearing glasses, the hours he spent in front of the computer left him with severe migraines. He still got headaches if he looked at the screen for too long.

He mentioned his feelings to Andrew once, but only got teasing in return. Andrew never took him seriously when he talked about changing careers. Andrew was very different from him, never wavering in his plans for the future. Link was jealous of that certainty. He spent much of his own time trying to stave off job-related anxiety by following the same routines.

Every morning, Link woke up at seven AM, careful not to disturb Andrew sleeping beside him. He showered, shaved, and got dressed as quietly as he could. He ate his cereal alone while browsing through the morning news his phone. When he could no longer delay the inevitable fact that he needed to leave for work unless he wanted to get written up for being late, he grabbed his laptop bag and left the house.

There was a man living across the street who was always getting his paper at the same time Link was getting in the car. They usually exchanged some friendly words about the weather, but the conversation never got very far. Rhett was his name, according to Andrew. He was very tall and lean, with messy blond hair and a full beard. As far as Link could tell, Rhett lived alone and kept to himself. On some evenings, Link saw him on his porch, surrounded by small blocks of wood. He always seemed so deeply engrossed in his work. Even though Link wanted to go over and start a conversation, like he had with the other neighbors on the street, he felt a little intimidated at the thought of interrupting him.

Rhett didn’t seem as uptight or clean-cut like the rest of Link’s co-workers, and he didn’t seem to be married or preoccupied by children like the rest of the families in their cul-de-sac. Link was curious about him. Andrew speculated that he had just gotten out of jail and was starting a new life, but Link disagreed. From chatting with other neighbors, he learned that Rhett had lived there for a year, but rarely spoke to anyone and never had visitors.

~

But when he got home that day and Jade wasn’t there to greet him at the door, all thought of Rhett fled his mind. He panicked, searching the house so frantically that it took several minutes for him to realize that someone was knocking on the door.

He opened it to find Rhett standing there, Jade nestled peacefully in his arms. _Oh._

Link rarely felt short around other people, but he felt positively tiny next to Rhett. His curly hair fell over his forehead in shaggy waves, just touching his heavy eyebrows. His eyes...

They were soft. Green.

A guy could get lost in those eyes.

“Uh... this is your dog, right?” Rhett was saying.

“Oh. Yeah.” Link gently took Jade back. She licked him all over her face, tail wagging madly. “Oh!” He laughed. “Thanks, man. I was goin’ outta my mind there for a second. Andrew must’ve left the back door open or something this morning. Do you wanna come in?”

Rhett shook his head no. “Just wanted to bring your dog back.”

"Okay. Well, thanks then.”

“She’s a good dog,” Rhett said.

“She’s a little cuddlebug. I love her to death.” Link kissed the top of her head. “You’re Rhett, aren’t you? Andrew told me.”

Rhett gave him a half-smile. “And you’re Charles.”

An answering smile. “Call me Link.”

“Link?”

“My middle name’s Lincoln, so that’s what I go by most of the time. Helps prevent confusion when you have the same name as your dad and your grandad.”

“Link.” Rhett repeated. “Nice to meet you, Link.” His voice was the low, hesitant croak of someone who didn’t speak much. He flicked his tongue across his lips and shuffled his feet.

An idea crossed Link’s mind. “Hey. Andrew and I are having a cookout this weekend. Saturday. We have friends in the area we haven’t had a chance to see yet. Would... would you like to come?”

He noticed the surprise in Rhett’s eyes.

“Um...”

Rhett glanced down and away at the grass beside the porch.

“You don’t have to bring anything,” Link said, keeping his voice light. For some reason, he felt as if he was coaxing a frightened animal out of hiding. “Just show up. For a few minutes. You don’t have far to go if you end up hating it, right? Just cross the street to get back home and then you never talk to us again!” As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to bite his tongue. _Nice one, Link._

But to his relief, Rhett smiled. “Sure. Thanks... Link.”

Just hearing his name on the man’s lips made him feel warm inside.

~

“So,” Link said that evening over dinner, shrimp scampi that Andrew had made while constantly shooing him out of the kitchen. “Jade got out again today.”

Andrew looked up from his plate. “Sorry.”

“You forgot to lock the screen door.”

“I just told you I’m sorry, Link.”

Link glanced down at Jade, munching contentedly away at her bowl. “She could’ve gotten lost.”

Andrew shook his head. “She’s not the type to wander.”

“Dang it, Andrew, what if someone had taken her? What if she’d gone into the road and gotten hurt?”

Andrew put down his fork. “Are we _really_ arguing with me about this now? Are we _really_ arguing about Jade? She’s fine. I said I’m sorry. I won’t leave the door open again.” He laughed bitterly. “What are you _really_ mad about, Link?”

“Nothing.”

“Look, if you’re pissed about your job, I really wish you’d come out and tell me. You’re always nitpicking everything I do.”

“I don’t _always_ -”

“See? You’re doing it right now.” Andrew flashed an incredulous smile. “You gotta stop this, babe. Seriously. You’re not the only one going through tough times on the job.”

It was an old argument, but one that Link couldn’t help picking at every now and then, the way he sometimes forced himself to stretch his bad shoulder between therapy sessions. The sharp pain brought relief from the constant, dull ache.

Link found he wasn’t hungry anymore. “But who am I supposed to talk to if I don’t talk to you?”

Andrew sighed, but his face softened. His brown eyes were so expressive sometimes, Link thought. “I didn’t say not to talk to me about this. But maybe think about other people before you start complaining, okay? This move has been tough for both of us, and we both deal with tons of shit at work. Let’s not bring that shit back here.”

“Okay.”

Andrew began eating again.

“Anyway,” he said after a moment, “where’d you find her?”

Link’s heart gave a guilty lurch at the memory of those green eyes. “She was with the neighbor across the street.”


	3. Chapter 3

This was a _mistake_. Rhett stared at himself in the mirror, wondering how the dark circles beneath his eyes had gotten so large. He wiped his palms on his jeans for the thousandth time, thankful that he wasn’t shaking at least. He hated how nervous he felt over something so small. It had been a while since he had attended any kind of get-together. Most of his acquaintances in the area knew he preferred to keep his distance and left him alone.

He just wanted to see Link again.

_Link._

An uncommon name, just like his own.

He brushed his hair, wishing it wasn’t so curly. For a moment, he had wondered what he’d look like with his hair pushed back from his forehead, but the sight of his eyebrows always left him feeling terribly self-conscious.

Before he left the house, he added a belt to the jeans he hadn’t worn in weeks; they were looser than he remembered. He toyed with the idea of bringing a gift, but quickly shook his head. That would be trying to hard.

As he crossed the street, he could already smell the burgers on the grill. He looked up at the house for a moment.

It had been a while since he had seen the place up close. The light blue siding with its white trim reminded him of a dollhouse carving he’d seen once before. Clean and charming. _Just like him._

“Rhett?”

Link was watching him from the corner of the house, arms crossed. One corner of his mouth was tilted upwards in amusement, as crooked as the tortoiseshell glasses that set his eyes off beautifully.

“Is this your first time seein’ a house up close?” There was a hint of a southern accent in his voice.

“I… no.” Rhett rubbed his already sweating palms on his jeans. He knew Link was joking, but he still felt flustered.

“Business in the front, party in the back. C’mon, man.” Link gestured for Rhett to follow him to the backyard. “I didn’t think you were going to show up.”

“I-I wanted to be fashionably late.” It was the closest he could get to small talk, and he felt gratified when Link chuckled.

The backyard extended further than Rhett had expected. The side closest to the house was taken up by a broad, newly stained deck. A small crowd of people was scattered throughout the yard. Rhett felt that twinge of sadness that always hit him when he saw families together, reminding him that his own family was on the other side of the country.

Link took Rhett around, introducing him to friends and coworkers. Rhett quickly forgot the myriad of names thrown at him, but he did his best to smile and participate in a few discussions about the pleasant spring weather.

Andrew was flipping burgers at the grill on the deck, wearing an outrageously frilly orange apron over his t-shirt and shorts. He twirled his spatula as Link and Rhett approached.

“We were gonna have some barbeque, but I forgot to get the sauce in time. Some Southerner I am, right?” Link sounded rather sheepish. To Andrew, he said. “We got any burgers ready for this dude?”

“Of course I do, babe. How many d’you need?”

_Babe._

Andrew said it so casually. Rhett would have missed it if not for Link stiffening beside him. His eyes fell on the glinting ring on Andrew’s finger and the matching ring on Link’s finger, and something clicked into place.

“You’re engaged?” he exclaimed. “Nice!”

Andrew grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at Link. “See, I told you he wouldn’t mind, babe. We’re not in North Carolina anymore.”

Link was blushing, but he said nothing.

Rhett accepted two burgers with cheese from Andrew. “So uh… when’s the big day, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Well…” Andrew snaked an arm around Link’s waist and planted a smooch on his fiance’s cheek. “We haven’t set a date yet, have we, hon?”

Link kept his eyes downcast and his face was still a deep red, but he was grinning now. “Not yet,” he said softly.

Rhett felt something new at that realization, something he couldn’t quite identify. He tucked the feeling aside for the moment, saving it to be examined later.

The day wore on pleasantly, food and drink flowing freely. Rhett had a few beers for the first time in months. He loosened up to the point that he demonstrated a few party tricks. Link seemed particularly impressed when Rhett showed him how to snatch a dollar bill from between the two bottles pinning it in place.

“So have you always lived here?” he asked Rhett. The two of them were sitting on the steps of the deck. The energy of the party was muted now as the sun crept lower in a brilliant yellow-orange haze. The guests had broken off into small groups, chatting throughout the yard. Andrew was deep in conversation with a mixed group of young adults that Link had explained were co-workers of his.

“I moved here from California last year.”

“Oh yeah?” Link glanced over at him. “Where from?”

“Thousand Oaks. Near LA.”

“Wow. What made you decide to move all the way across the freaking country?”

The twinge of sadness again, with memories of fights... so many _fights_. Rhett focused on the sunset.  “Bad break-up.”

“Oh. I’m, ah… I’m sorry.” Rhett sensed Link’s discomfort as he fidgeted, running his hands over his legs.

Rhett only shrugged. “It was inevitable.”

When Link spoke again, his voice was gentle. “Any kids?”

Rhett shook his head no. Thinking of that last relationship filled him with a sense of loss and misery that he had been able to hold at bay until now. He took a long drink from his beer.

“Sorry to hear that, man.”

“Thanks.” Rhett changed the subject. “So did you propose to Andrew or did he propose to you? I saw you both have rings.”

“Well…” Link looked down at his ring. “I got excited and proposed to him, only I didn’t have a ring at the time.”

“What?”

“Yeah, pretty dumb, right?” Link shook his head. “I was so excited to get married, I just forgot what I was doing. One moment we were taking a walk, the next I was down on one knee apologizing for not having a ring. It was his idea to get matching ones afterwards.”

“That’s cool.” Rhett grinned. “I’m happy for you guys.”

It wasn’t until later that night, when the pleasant buzz in his head had faded, when he was curled up in bed with that same sense of loss and sadness gnawing at his insides, that Rhett realized what he had felt when he’d learned that Link was engaged.

He was disappointed.


	4. Chapter 4

Another dull week passed. Rhett spoke to Link every morning before work. He felt the unhappy weight on his shoulders lift a little whenever they spoke. He liked how Link’s face brightened with his broad smile whenever he caught sight of Rhett. At least _someone_ seemed to want him around.

One evening, Rhett stayed in his office later than usual, finishing up a particularly detailed report. Every now and then, he glanced up at the house across the street. Link had come home from work a few hours ago, soon followed by Andrew. Rhett imagined them telling each other stories about their day over dinner, laughing together, washing dishes together like the cute domestic couple they probably were, and a feeling of jealousy washed over him.

A light came on in an upstairs bedroom window. The curtains were open, so Rhett saw Link pacing to and fro, his hands on his hips. Abruptly, Link stopped, shaking his head. He turned, gesturing wildly to someone out of view. He was yelling.

As Rhett watched, Andrew joined Link at the window, a strangely focused expression on his face. Link was still speaking, but now his hands had fallen to his sides. Andrew said something, and gripped Link’s shoulders.

Then he leaned in and kissed him.

Rhett’s eyes widened. Hastily, he looked back at his laptop, fingers motionless on the keys, heart pounding madly. This was something he wasn’t supposed to see.

But he couldn’t resist glancing up again. Andrew had taken Link’s glasses off. They were kissing more deeply, hands roaming frantically over each other’s bodies. Link’s hair had fallen over his eyes.

Andrew was unbuckling Link’s belt now as he slowly lowered himself to his knees. Link’s hands were on Andrew’s shoulders, in his hair...

Rhett was so entranced at the sight that he flinched a little when Link reached out and snapped the curtain shut.

 _Enough._ Rhett got up from his laptop and stumbled from the office on shaky legs. He went to his bedroom and sat down, shaking his head to clear it of the image of Link and his upturned face as Andrew gently caressed him.

Of _course_ they made out. Of _course_ they had sex. They were a _couple_.

Why did that bother him so much? He wasn’t homophobic, was he? Rhett tilted his head to one side, thinking. No, that wasn’t it. So why did he feel so upset at what he had seen?

_Maybe I need to start dating again._

~

That Friday was the hottest of the spring so far. Rhett turned the air conditioning on high; he didn’t want to be sweating and smelling like a horse at the end of the day. When he went out to get the morning paper and say hello to his neighbor, Link seemed distracted, not in the mood to linger and chat like usual, so Rhett kept their conversation brief.

Rhett’s brother Cole called that afternoon. He and Rhett’s parents contacted him every so often, just to make sure he was doing okay, they said.

“So have you met anyone out there?” Cole asked. “Been going out at all?”

Rhett was at his desk, his attention split between their conversation and his spreadsheets. “No.”

His brother was quiet for a long time. Rhett pictured him in the church office, his shirtsleeves rolled up to the elbows, pacing from wall to wall as he struggled to think of what to say next.

“I heard that Julie moved out-of-state.”

Just hearing her name was enough to give Rhett a shaky moment of anger. “Good,” he muttered. “Hope she moves out of the country soon, too.”

Cole began a gentle admonishment, but then chuckled. “You know, I gotta agree with you there. Anyway, Rhett, I need to go. But listen, you’re always welcome back here if you ever want to come home.”

Rhett snorted. “Do you have a paper bag large enough to hide my face?”

Cole sighed. “Rhett... it wasn’t as big as you think it was-”

“Not as big?” Rhett scoffed. “There were _cops_ there, Cole. The neighbors heard everything.”

“But you don’t need to be ashamed, Rhett.” His brother’s voice was so gentle that Rhett felt his eyes prickling with tears. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore, Cole.”

“All right. I’m sorry, brother. I’ll call you again soon.”

The rest of the day passed in a slow haze. Even after evening came and Link returned from work, the heat of the day was still heavy in the air. Rhett sat on the porch in the shadow of the bush growing beside it while he whittled at a block of wood. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to make today. Aimlessly, he carved off bits from the edges until the porch beneath his feet was littered with light brown curls of wood and nothing was left in his palm but a rough wooden orb.

Thinking about California always left him feeling sluggish and vaguely angry, as if he was struggling his way through waist-deep mud. It hurt to think about Julie, about what they’d been through. It hurt even more to think about how he’d fled like a coward, barely waiting for her friends to collect her stuff before he was off to the airport.

The garage door of the little blue house across the street slowly opened. Link stepped out with a lawnmower in tow, bobbing his head to music in his earphones. Jade pattered out beside him, following closely at his heels.

Rhett's mouth went dry.

Link was wearing a blue tee over an obscenely tiny pair of white shorts. He pranced along with the music, head bobbing, as he mowed the lawn. At one point, he stopped to add an air guitar solo to a particularly heavy section. He was singing, too, but his voice was drowned out by the lawnmower’s drone.

His waist was so small. For a split second, Rhett imagined his hands there, fingers digging into the flesh, and he bit his lip. He wondered if Andrew was watching from the house, fingers pulling the blinds apart, eyes tracing the outline of Link’s swaying body. The thought made him feel guilty for watching.

He took his whittling to the backyard.


	5. Chapter 5

Link opened his eyes to the incessant chattering of sparrows outside his window. Even with the windows closed, they were quite noisy. He pressed his face against the pillow with a sigh.

It was Saturday morning. He would have enjoyed sleeping in, but there was neglected housework to be done.

Andrew was curled up against his back, his breath a faint warmth on Link’s neck. Thinking about the previous night’s activities made Link’s ears redden as he extricated himself from his fiance’s embrace. They had been arguing - _again_ \- because Andrew hadn’t walked Jade like he was supposed to while Link had been tied up at work. Link had been furious, but as his voice rose, Andrew had gotten that look in his eyes. The next thing he could remember was them kissing fiercely. Link had barely had the presence of mind to move them to the bed before all his clothes were torn off.

After a quick shower, Link grabbed an old gray t-shirt and a pair of black shorts that Andrew always liked seeing him wear. He mentally reviewed the tasks he wanted to complete that day as he got dressed. For a moment, he considered waking Andrew to help, but his fiance was a monster when his sleep got interrupted, so he went downstairs for breakfast instead.

Jade was overjoyed to see him when he entered the kitchen. Her tail didn’t stop wagging until he had opened her cage and gathered her into his arms. She licked his face so vigorously that he couldn’t help chuckling. He preferred Jade sleeping in the bed with him, but since Andrew hated the thought of her peeing on the sheets, he had reluctantly agreed to keep her in the cage at night.

“I missed you,” he said softly. She yawned in response. Link held her in one arm as he made cereal for himself and refilled her bowls.

“What do you think about me changing careers, Jade?” he asked as he watched her munch at her breakfast. Her ears perked up at the sound of her name, but she otherwise ignored him.

It was days like these that he felt painfully alone. There were times that he wanted to talk to Andrew, really talk to him, but ever since they moved, the other man always dismissed his concerns as overreactions. Or reminded Link of mistakes he’d made. Or kissed him until Link was too dizzy to think. In public, Andrew put on a big show of being an affectionate and caring partner, but at home, he kept to himself unless they were making out or arguing.

They did both of those things a lot these days.

Link finished his cereal and shuffled onto the porch. Across the street, Rhett’s house was silent. He wondered if the man was still sleeping. On weekends, he rarely saw Rhett emerge from the house, except to occasionally sit on his front porch.

He thought about those soft green eyes again.

 _Nope._ Link went back inside. “I’m engaged,” he said aloud.

He got busy cleaning. Mopping the kitchen floor, organizing the books on the shelf, dusting the ceiling fan - all of it served to calm his mind, remind him that he was still in control of _something_. Life might not be perfect, but at least the house looked nice. Jade watched him from the safety of the couch as he swept the hardwood floor. She wasn’t a fan of cleaning supplies.

At one point, Andrew wandered downstairs, his light brown hair still disheveled from sleep. His open bathrobe exposed the wonderfully smooth expanse of his chest. He wrapped an arm around Link and kissed him briefly on the lips. Link moved to kiss him back, but felt his heart sink when the other man turned away.

“What are you up to today?” he asked.

Andrew shrugged as he rummaged through the cabinets, coming away with a box of Pop Tarts. “Nothin’ much.”

A flicker of annoyance crossed Link’s mind, but he hoped his face didn’t show it. “You’re not gonna help clean?”

“Hey, you’re the one that likes doing it,” Andrew said with his mouth full.

“But this is _our_ house-”

“Dammit, Link.” A flicker of annoyance crossed Andrew’s face. “I’ll do the laundry. Okay? Will you lay off me then? Will that make you happy?” He retreated to the bedroom, before Link could think up a suitable retort.

He felt better once he was outside, Jade sticking close by. He unwound the hose from the side of the house and began spraying down his car. There had been little rain for the past few weeks, and his car desperately needed cleaning.

As he put down the hose and got to work with a bucket of soap and a sponge, his attention drifted to Rhett’s house across the street. He wondered how the man was doing. He wondered if he had offended him by asking about his family. There was more to his story, Link was sure, and he wished he could think of a way to get Rhett to open up a little more.

After a moment of daydreaming, he realized that he’d been standing with the sponge dripping uselessly at his side. He got back to vigorously scrubbing the windows, doors, sides, until the whole car was covered with suds. Jade wandered around him and lapped at the still-running hose.

“M-mornin’, Link.”

That low, hesitant voice. Link’s head snapped up. Rhett had crossed the street unnoticed, and now smiled tentatively at him from the end of the driveway.

“Morning, Rhett,” he said. He couldn’t help smiling in return, the tempo of his pulse rising as Rhett walked closer.

“You know how this works, right?” Rhett said, gesturing at his suds-covered car. “You wash your car one day, and the next it rains all day.”

“It’s not supposed to rain for another week,” Link said, tossing his sponge back into the bucket.

Jade scampered up to Rhett, tail wagging. He knelt to scratch her behind the ears. “Didn’t you see the sunrise this morning? It was red.”

“So?”

“ ‘Red sky at night, sailors’ delight,’ ” Rhett murmured, his eyes still on Jade. “ ‘Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.’ ”

Link raised an eyebrow. “I ain’t a sailor, man. What does that mean?”

“Do I need to spell it out for you? If the sky’s red in the morning, it’s probably gonna rain later.”

“Oh.” Link glanced up at the sky as he went to retrieve the hose. There were a few clouds here and there, but none looked as if they were threatening rain.

As he walked around the car, spraying off the suds, he heard a yelled protest. Rhett sprang up, water dripping from his hair.

“Watch it, man!” He sounded mildly annoyed.

Link paled. “I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay, man.” Rhett came around the car, reaching for the hose. “Lemme see that for a minute.”

“Wha-?”

“Just lemme see it. C’mon.”

“Um...okay...” Link handed the hose over. He shrieked as Rhett turned the hose on him, spraying him directly in the face hard enough to knock off his glasses. When he could see again, he realized Rhett was laughing.

A smile crossed his own face. “You little...” He went for the sponge as the spray of water hit him again. He scampered around the lawn, Rhett following him with the hose on full blast. He looked so strong and certain, as if he could withstand Link pouncing on him without making a sound. Link charged, brandishing his sponge, and tackled Rhett the ground. They wrestled, laughing, the hose spraying them both.

Rhett finally sat back, holding Link’s arms at bay with both hands. Link took a moment to admire him. His dark blonde hair had been swept off his forehead and water droplets sparkled on his eyelashes as his body shook with full-body chuckles. Link joined in, laughing harder than he could remember laughing in a while. As their mirth faded, he realized his face was reddening. Rhett’s eyes were on him again, his cheeks lifted in a rare smile.

There was a dab of suds on the end of Rhett’s nose.

Link freed his hands from Rhett’s now-loose grip. He reached up to brush the suds away.

“Hey!”

Link snatched his hand back.

“Hey!” Andrew stood on the porch, arms crossed and head tilted in a way that meant he was irritated. He had gotten dressed at some point and now wore a black henley and a pair of shorts.

“What the hell are you wasting water for?” Andrew gestured to the hose, which was still running. “You gonna water the whole neighborhood or what?”

“I-I’m sorry,” Link stammered. He got to his feet, suddenly self-conscious of his soaking wet clothes. The grass around him was muddy and trampled. “I was just-”

“No. I’m sorry.” Rhett got up as well. His voice was soft, but with an edge to it that Link hadn’t heard before. “I was tryna be funny and got him with the hose. Got a little carried away. Won’t happen again.” He brushed grass and mud off his jeans and retreated to his house across the street.

“What was that all about?” Andrew demanded.

Guiltily, Link tore his gaze away from Rhett’s retreating figure, away from his bowed head and sloping shoulders. “I was washing the car and he, uh, got in the way.”

Andrew looked as if he wanted to say something else, but instead he went back inside, shaking his head. Link put the hose away and sat with Jade on the porch. He wanted to go inside to change, but guessed that Andrew was probably in a mood after seeing him with Rhett, so he decided to give him time to cool off.

“What was that, Jade?” he asked, one hand absently scratching her behind an ear. She settled down in his lap and said nothing. “I must be lonelier than I thought. That’s a word, right? Lonelier?”

Jade licked his hand once, which he took as a sign of agreement.

The next day, Link awoke to hear raindrops pattering against the window.

It rained all day.


	6. Chapter 6

The rain continued through the beginning of the next week. It wasn’t until Tuesday that Rhett saw the sun again. He ventured outside to get his paper, deeply inhaling the scent of freshly washed earth as he stepped between puddles. He glanced across the street and his mood fell. Link’s car was in the driveway, but Link himself was nowhere to be seen.

Rhett paced a few steps back and forth at the end of his driveway, trying to wait without looking like he was waiting. When Link failed to appear after several minutes, he reluctantly went back inside.

The rest of the week was pleasant enough that Rhett spent some time on the porch whittling. He saw Andrew leave for work and to take Jade for walks, but still no Link.

 _Why do I care about him so much?_ Rhett pondered the answer to this question repeatedly, turning it at all angles, and the only answer that made sense was that he liked Link. Maybe it was because he was so lonely that he was desperate for any type of kindness. Maybe it was because he had opened up to another person for the first time in months, like a flower opening to the sun after a long night.

On Friday afternoon, he was on the porch, mindlessly carving a sphere, when the front door of the house across the street opened and Link stepped out. Jade scampered out ahead of him, hampered by the leash he’d wrapped around one hand. When he saw Rhett, he stopped and raised one hand awkwardly. Rhett waved back.

“Hey! Link!”

“Hey.”

Before he could think about what he was doing, Rhett was up, out of his seat, loping across the street to join Link on the sidewalk.

“I-I haven’t seen you in a while,” Rhett said as they fell into step together. Ahead of them, Jade stopped to sniff at a patch of the neighbor’s grass.

“I work nights now.” Link scratched a nonexistent itch behind his ear. His hair looked damp, as if he’d showered recently. “New project.”

He wasn’t as upbeat Rhett had expected him to be. There was more stubble than usual on his chin. “Something wrong?” Rhett asked.

“Ehh...” Link shook his head. He’d gotten new glasses, Rhett noticed. The ombre tint of the frames did little to distract from the dark circles beneath his eyes. “Just trying to get used to working overnight. It’s been years since I’ve had to do that. We’re rebuilding the assembly lines in the warehouse, and I have to be there to oversee everything.”

“Oh.”

“So what’s that I always see you doing on the porch?” Rhett could almost _hear_ Link struggling to inject some energy into his voice. “You a carver or somethin’?”

Rhett shrugged. “I like wood.” Link laughed at that, and Rhett felt as if the heavens had burst into singing. He grinned. “Naw, man, for real, I whittle stuff for fun.”

“Tell me about it?” Link almost sounded tentative.

Rhett launched into an explanation, discussing the best types of softwood, his favorite carving tools, and the items he’d made. The cul-de-sac they walked along joined a longer street more tightly lined with houses and trees, then a wider road where a steady stream of traffic passed by.

As Rhett talked, he saw Link’s shoulders relax, his expression lift. He even asked questions about what Rhett had made. When they finally circled back and arrived at their cul-de-sac some time later, Link was smiling.

“You think you might wanna start whittling?” Rhett asked eagerly. “It’s lots of fun.”

Link’s steps slowed to a halt. His expression was unusually shy. Rhett wondered if he had said something wrong.

“Thank you for walking with me,” Link said softly.

Rhett didn’t know why he did it. Link just looked so tired and delicate, that he was overcome with the urge to comfort him. He put both arms around Link and pulled him close. He felt a thrill at the thin body pressed against his, at the smell of Link’s freshly washed hair, and he barely dared to breathe. His heart was beating so hard it almost hurt.

He didn’t expect Link to hug him back. He didn’t expect to feel a pair of arms wrap tightly around his back, fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt. He didn’t expect Link to rest his head on his chest.

But when it happened, he almost wanted to cry.

~

Back at home, Rhett headed upstairs for a shower. As he pulled off his shirt, he caught a whiff of Link’s hair again.

He stepped into the shower and rammed his fist against the wall once, twice, three times, but that didn’t change the fact that there were tears mingling with the water on his face.

He couldn’t deny it anymore. The sadness he’d seen in Link mirrored something in himself that he had been trying to ignore.

Rhett was lonely. He was mind-numbingly, soul-crushingly lonely. He both loved and hated the solitude, wanting to reach out and make friends, but never quite finding someone with whom he could be completely vulnerable.

For a little while, he’d thought that he’d found a friend in Link, but who was he kidding? Link was getting married and stressed out with a new work schedule. What use would he have of a giant hermit who whittled and played guitar and was always obsessed with something obscure?

Blindly, he reached for the shampoo, squeezed a dollop into his palm, and began working it through his hair. His fingers slowed as he remembered the scent of Link’s hair once again.

 _What if I was shampooing_ his _hair?_

The thought sent a shiver up his spine, but he couldn’t shake it. He imagined massaging that thick dark hair with his fingers. Link would close his eyes, tilt his head back enough to expose the prominent expanse of his neck, perfect for Rhett to press his lips against.

_No._

_NO._

_He already has someone. You need to find someone else._

Weary, he finished his shower and put on a pair of boxers.

There was a six-pack of some flat-tasting light beer and leftover pizza in the fridge. Rhett had planned to bake something for dinner, but now he felt too drained to gather the ingredients. He sprawled on the couch and turned on a baseball game. He might have wept again, but by that point he’d already finished the entire six-pack, so he wasn’t entirely sure.

When he eventually dozed off, his mind was full of whirling images of blue eyes and that wide, bright smile. The next day, he could think of nothing else. He wondered if Link had enough time to take care of Jade properly. He wondered if Andrew was treating him right and giving him the support he needed. The thought of Link being alone and upset almost made him angry.

A fine place to be in, obsessing over another man’s fiance.

After another restless night, he’d had enough. He grabbed his phone and called his brother.

“Cole, you know how you said I’m always welcome at your house?” he asked. There was a lump in his throat. “Y-you mind if I fly out there for a bit? Soon?”

“Did something happen, Rhett?”

“No,” Rhett whispered, pinching his nose between thumb and forefinger. “I just I miss you guys. I need a break. I need...” His voice cracked, but he somehow managed to hold himself together. He would _not_ cry over the phone. “It’s been months since I’ve seen everyone.”

“Okay,” Cole said gently. “Listen, we have some exchange students staying with us for another week, so the house is pretty crowded.”  


“That’s fine, I’ll fly out next week then. I’ll text you the flight info.” Rhett hesitated. “Thank you, Cole.”

Rhett booked a flight and was packing his clothes within the hour. In the bathroom, he caught sight of himself. His bloodshot eyes and overgrown hair made him look wild, desperate. His family would definitely worry when they saw him.

At this point, though, he almost didn’t care. He just needed some space between him and Link.


	7. Chapter 7

“I’m leaving for California tomorrow,” Rhett said. Link had come across the street before leaving for work this time. To see what Rhett was whittling, he’d said. Rhett was working on a lion figurine smaller than his palm, the curls of its mane almost magically appearing beneath confident knife strokes.

“For how long?” Link watched the wood shavings fall away from Rhett’s fingers like snow. He felt his own mood sinking at the news.

“A few weeks. I haven’t seen my family in a while. And, well...” He shrugged. “I need a change of scenery.”

 _Don’t leave me here._ “Vacations are-are always nice.” As soon as the words were out, Link hated how vapid he sounded, like a teenager grasping at ways to compliment his crush.

Rhett smoothed the face of the lion with a thumb. “Yep.”

“Well, um, have fun, I guess.”

An unexpected smile flashed across his friend’s face. “Thanks, Link.”

The weather grew warmer as the weeks wore on. The month of May sailed in on a smothering heat wave that left Link wishing he lived somewhere further north. Even though Rhett was away, the hug that they had shared stayed on his mind, surfacing at the most unexpected times. When he was sleepily driving home from work after another overnight shift, when he was taking Jade for a walk, the memory of Rhett’s arms around him always made him pause for a moment and wonder what the hell he was doing with his life.

He wasn’t sure if he loved Andrew anymore. His fiance seemed more sullen than ever, snapping at Link about Jade, cursing some aspect of the weather. He stopped talking about wedding plans and always said cruel things whenever Link brought up the subject.

“How the hell should I know when it should be?” he snapped one weekend evening over dinner as Link mentioned possibly setting a wedding date soon.

“Andrew.” Link couldn’t help the frustration that seeped into his voice. “I was just asking. No need to get so upset.”

Andrew shook his head and scooped another forkful of lasagna into his mouth.

Link wasn’t hungry anymore. He took a deep breath to brace himself and asked the question that had been worming its way through his mind for weeks now. “Do you still want to get married?”

Andrew stopped chewing. After a moment, his face perked up with a strained smile that didn’t reach his eyes at all. “Of course, babe.”

 _Oh._ The last time Link had seen Andrew force a smile like that was when they’d visited Andrew’s parents, who were still uncomfortable with their son’s homosexuality despite trying their hardest to hide it. That fixed grin of his hadn’t gone away until they were driving back home. Now, he knew what it meant.

_Andrew’s just as miserable as me._

Now that he thought about it, the realization wasn’t that surprising.

“Listen, I need to tell you something,” Andrew was saying. “I got a job offer.”

Link’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? That’s great!” He frowned, noticing that his fiance’s eyes were fixed on the table. “Wait, that _is_ great, right?”

“Much, much better salary than I’m making now.” Andrew ran a hand through his hair, ruining the careful side part he’d made that morning. “But, um, it’s in Chicago.”

“Chicago,” Link repeated.

“Yeah.”

“But we _just_ moved here.”

Andrew shrugged. “We can move again, can’t we? This house won’t be hard to sell. You won’t have to stick with that job you’re always complaining about. And I know a few people who can help us find a good place to live downtown.”

“Wait.” Link scrutinized his fiance’s infuriatingly smooth face. “Did you already _accept_?”

“Well actually... yes.” Andrew said the last word with the certainty of someone making a long-debated decision. “I did. You’re not happy?”

Link threw up his hands. “You didn’t think about asking your _future husband’s_ opinion first?”

Andrew looked rather baffled. “But you’re always telling me how much you hate your job. I thought you’d agree in a heartbeat. We could afford to move to a big city finally, instead of living in these-” He gestured vaguely towards the window. “-these dead country suburbs. You wouldn’t even have to find another job if you didn’t want to.”

“But I don’t want to leave-” Link broke off, but it was too late. Andrew’s face went dark.

“You don’t want to leave _him_ , is that it?” He tilted his head towards the front door, towards the silent house across the street. “Is that it?” When Link said nothing, Andrew laughed bitterly. “I knew it. I’m not stupid, Link. I see you looking across the street every single fucking time you walk by a window. I see the way you look when you talk to him.”

“He’s been a good friend,” Link protested weakly.

“No.” Andrew was shaking his head. “You want more than that from him. I see it plain as day now.” One side of his mouth curled up derisively. “Ridiculous. You don’t even know if he’s gay, but you’re more interested in him than me.”

“Because you don’t care!” Link burst out, startling Jade from where she sat by his chair. He was on his feet before he realized he’d left his chair, white-knuckled hands gripping the edge of the table. “Ever since we’ve moved here, you’ve been so wrapped up in _your_ job, _your_ career, _your_ weekend plans. You never want to hear what I say anymore!” He looked down at his hands, at the ring glinting on one finger. “Y-you don’t even want to get married anymore,” he added more quietly.

He was ready for Andrew to spring up with soothing words, placating kisses, saying all the things he knew would make Link forget about the argument. But Andrew’s face was still. Calculating. He was quiet for too long. Finally, he dropped his fork onto his plate.

“Tell me one thing, Link.” His voice was a dangerous monotone. “Have you cheated on me.”

“Wha- no!” Link held up both hands. “Never.”

Andrew was on his feet now, shambling around the table to push his fiance against the wall. He gripped Link’s shoulders, his dark eyes piercing.

“No,” he said after a moment. “You haven’t cheated... but you want to.”

Link was a terrible liar under the best of circumstances. Now, he was at a loss for words. “I...”

Andrew’s face fell. “I knew it.” He sounded defeated as he released Link. “You know what? You’re right.”

Link massaged his shoulder with one hand. “Right about what?”

“I don’t want to get married anymore.”

~

In the end, the breakup was surprisingly civil. They talked a little about how to split up their belongings. Link gave up his engagement ring as Andrew was leaving the house for the last time.

In the end, he crumpled in a corner and cradled Jade in his arms, waiting for tears that never came.

_What now?_

Link asked himself that question many times over the next few days. Rhett was _still_ away in California, so he took Jade out alone, taking longer and longer walks every morning when he got home from work.

He hated living alone, feeling the life slowly drain out of him with the silence. The last time he’d lived alone had been in college, and even then he’d spent time with friends every weekend. Now, when he wasn’t working or caring for Jade, he spent a lot of time sleeping. Sometimes he dreamed of low chuckles, warm hands, and the touch of a beard beneath his fingers. He awoke sweating profusely, sometimes with an erection that he dealt with quickly and shamefully.

Now that Andrew was gone, he could finally allow himself to admit that he wanted Rhett badly. He wondered how it would feel to be completely at the mercy of someone so much bigger than him, or how it would feel to dominate someone who was clearly very shy.

But what was there about him in his present state that Rhett would like? He didn’t like himself much right now. He hated the exhaustion he saw whenever he looked in the mirror. His ombre glasses were perched crookedly on his nose, his dark hair almost hanging in his eyes. He looked like a dejected teenager.

A few days later, he went to the nearby hair salon for a haircut. It had been a while since he’d gone to a place like this; he was so protective of his hair that the thought of someone else cutting it made him nervous. The girl at the front desk was nice, though, and directed him to an open chair. The stylist came by a few moments later.

“So what kind of cut are we getting?” she asked him as she spread the hair cutting cover over him and fastened it behind his neck..

Link showed her pictures he’d googled and she nodded. Scissors began clipping away, followed by the buzz of the clippers that set his knee bouncing frantically.

When he first saw his newly shorn head in the mirror, the sides shorter than the top just like he’d asked, he almost cried.

“You look great,” the stylist told him encouragingly as she spun him away from the mirror.

“Thanks,” he said automatically, though his mind was roiling with doubt. The air on his exposed ears felt strange.

On the way home, he told himself that he liked the cut. It made him look more like a thirty-something year old man, he thought, but in a good way.

He wondered what Rhett would think of it.


	8. Chapter 8

For some strange reason, Cole and his family were overjoyed to have him around. Cole’s wife made him a huge dinner during his first night in their house. His nieces and nephews clamored all over him, begging him to play video games with them or to teach them songs on guitar. Rhett even forced himself to go to church again. He still wasn’t used to seeing his brother as a pastor. Seemed like only yesterday, but it had been back in middle school that he’d thrown his deodorant at Cole for teasing him about a girl he liked.

Still, Rhett knew they were all worried about him. The feeling that they were discussing him in hushed whispers when he left the room made him feel more self-conscious than usual. The worst moment came when he went to see his parents. His mother nearly broke down when she hugged him.

“Honey, you’re so _thin_! Are you even eating out there?”

“I’m _fine_ , Mom. Just fine.”

His father eyed him skeptically. “Looks like you’ve been having a rough time.”

“It hasn’t been that bad,” Rhett protested weakly. “I like living on the East Coast.”

He spent a lot of time in Cole’s backyard in a lawn chair, eyes closed, his face turned up towards the blinding sun. He thought about Link a lot, trying to sort out his feelings and what he should do with them.

“This is just a crush,” he said out loud.

In the past, he’d handled crushes by flirting hardcore, and if the girl was interested, he’d told her upfront he liked her. This approach had worked pretty well for him. But now, he was still reeling from that horrible breakup. He wasn’t sure how he might handle dating another man, either. Would he still be expected to buy flowers?

Rhett snorted, shaking his head slowly. He knew he was getting ahead of himself. Link was getting married to someone else. His best course of action would be to move on. Find something new to obsess over.

But he didn’t want to. He wanted _Link_. He wanted to be near him and listen to him sing again, to see his face lift in a smile as they talked. He wanted to be able to put his arms around Link without worrying about who was watching. He wanted it so badly, more than he’d wanted anything in a long time, and it angered him that the object of his desire was just out of reach.  


Then one evening, as he watched his nieces and nephews play tag in the backyard, it hit him. It was glaringly obvious that Andrew didn’t care for Link. But they also weren’t married yet, meaning that Rhett still had a chance to show Link that he actually cared. Would it make a difference? Probably not, but it would be better than sulking alone.

So after weeks of sitting in the sun, playing with his nieces and nephews, and reassuring his family that he was doing well, Rhett was ready to go home. It was great seeing his parents and his brother, but seeing how happy they were and spending time in places where he and Julie had once been happy just served as another reminder of how alone he was.

Cole gave him a ride to the airport.

“Hate to see you leaving so soon,” he said as they pulled up to the gate.

“Soon? I’ve been here almost a month!” Rhett chuckled. “Thanks for the ride, brother.”

“Remember, you ever feel like moving back out here, we’ll have the guest room ready and waiting for you.”

Rhett tried to grin. “Thanks. I don’t want to be the weird uncle, though.”

Cole chuckled, but there was brotherly concern in his eyes. “Okay, then. Safe travels man.”

They shared a last hug, then Rhett trudged into the airport, rolling his suitcase behind him.

The flight back was marginally less miserable than usual. He couldn’t sleep, but he’d forked over the cash for first-class seats this time, so at least he had enough room to sit. He wondered how Link was doing, if things between him and Andrew were all right. He had thought about texting or calling many times while on this trip, but it had never seemed appropriate. They’d never contacted each other by phone, anyway. As the plane took off down the runway, he put on an audiobook and closed his eyes.

He wondered if Link missed him.

~

Home, finally. As he pulled into the driveway, Rhett tried to remember the last time he’d been gone for so long. It must have been years. Right now, he was excited at the thought of walking pants-less around the house.

“Hey, Rhett!”

Link was waving at him from his driveway, but this Link was different from the one he’d left behind. This Link had considerably more forehead. Rhett left his suitcase in the driveway and crossed the street without a second thought.

“You cut your hair!” he exclaimed.

Link scratched his neck, his eyes bashfully downcast. “Yeah.”

Rhett’s hand came up, but he caught himself just in time. Instead of touching Link’s hair, he ran a hand through his own curls self-consciously. “It looks good.”

_It looks “good”? Is that the best you could come up with, McLaughlin?_

“Thanks. You got really tan!”

“Yeah. How’s, um...” Rhett cleared his throat. “How’s Andrew?”

“Oh. About that.” Link grinned weakly. “We broke up.”

 _What._ A tumult of emotions tore through Rhett’s mind, and he desperately hoped that none of them showed on his face. Too late, he saw that Link wasn’t wearing his engagement ring anymore. “Oh. I’m-I’m sorry man.”

Link shook his head. “No, it’s all right. I just... we weren’t a good match, you know?”

 _Of course you weren’t a good match. He was a jerk._ Rhett gave a noncommittal shrug. Aloud, he said, “It happens, I guess.”

Link clasped his hands behind his back. “You, ah, wanna come inside? I’m about to make dinner. I mean, it’s just gonna be cereal, but I don’t mind ordering out or whatever.”

“Ah... s-sure.”

It was the first time he’d been inside Link’s house. The place was fastidiously neat - no streaks on the mirror by the door, no dust on the keyboard by the TV. Jade padded up to Rhett as he pressed a few keys.

“You play piano?” Link called from the kitchen.

“Not really.” Rhett gave Jade a distracted pat; he’d noticed the pictures on the mantelpiece above a fireplace similar to the one in Rhett’s house. There was a much-younger and bearded Link grinning cheekily in a graduation gown, his arm around a woman Rhett assumed was his mother. A slightly older Link bundled up in the snow, standing alone with a snowboard by a ski lift. Link, more recently, on a mountain bike with a helmet and gloves, posing with a group of similarly dressed people on their own bikes. A black-and-white picture of a man with a mustache.

“Looks like you get out a lot,” he called.

“Huh?” Link came out of the kitchen, drying his hands with a paper towel. “Oh yeah, I try to stay active. Or I did, before we moved up here.”

Rhett tapped the frame of the unfamiliar man. “Relative of yours?”

“My dad.” Link gestured for Rhett to follow him. “Come on in the kitchen, man.”

Rhett followed and perched on the edge of a chair at the kitchen table while Link rummaged in the cabinets.

“You sure you don’t mind cereal for dinner?”

Rhett shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.” He was feeling too jittery to be hungry, anyway. Link’s t-shirt was so tight it left nothing about his frame to the imagination and Rhett was having a hard time looking at anything else. His eyes ran down the plane of Link’s torso as the man reached for the bowls on the top shelf.

_Bet he wouldn’t be able to move at all if I was on top of him._

“I have ramen, too, if you’d prefer that,” Link said with a sheepish laugh. “Cooking’s one of the many things I can’t do.”

“It’s okay,” Rhett mumbled. Link poured two bowls of mini-wheats and pushed one across the table. “Thanks.”

Link sat across from him and dug happily into his cereal. Rhett traced the outline of his face with his eyes, from his prominent jaw to his broad forehead. He was so-

“What?” Link was grinning at him. “Does my forehead look that bad?”

“No, of course not!” Rhett snapped his gaze back down at his bowl and ventured a bite. The cereal was sweeter than he was used to, but it wasn’t bad. “So have you been good? How do you like living by yourself now?”

Link gave a flippant shrug, but Rhett noticed a distant look in his eyes. “’s all right. How was California?”

Rhett imitated his shrug. “Nothing special.”

“Carve much while you were out there?”

“Actually no.” Rhett sighed. “I mostly just sat in the sun.”

Link grinned. “I can tell.”

“I’m glad to be back now,” Rhett continued. “I missed yo-” He broke off with a cough. “I missed this side of the country.”

They made a little more conversation before Rhett mentioned that he was tired, thanked Link for the dinner, and said he wanted to unpack. He gave Jade one last pat.

It was probably just his imagination, but Link looked almost crestfallen as he left.


	9. Chapter 9

The heat of June had arrived, but the bed still felt cold without Andrew beside him. Jade slept in the bed now, but she preferred to curl up by his feet for some reason, probably so she wouldn’t hear him sleep talk. Link began sleeping with a nightlight on. It was silly, he knew, to be afraid of the dark, but he wanted to avoid the inevitable downturn of his thoughts that came when the lights went out.

His birthday came and went, but he barely noticed. He mentioned it in passing to Rhett one afternoon.

“It was your birthday and you didn’t tell anyone?” Rhett’s eyebrows shot up, but after a moment, he laughed. “You know what, who am I to judge. I haven’t celebrated mine much recently either.”

“I just don’t like the gifts, man,” Link said. He was on Rhett’s porch, watching him polish a new carving of a owl. “Makes me feel bad that someone had to spend money on something I might not even like.” 

Rhett laughed. “I _love_ gifts. The weirder the better. Here, Link.” He held out his finished carving. “My gift to you.”

“But-”

“I didn’t spend money on it,” Rhett said. “Well, I did buy the wood, but I didn’t go out ‘specially to get something for you. Give it to Jade to chew on, if that makes you feel better.”

“Oh.” Link took the small figurine from Rhett’s hand. The detail put into the feathers was even more intricate up close. “Thanks, man.”

In his free time, Link began writing in a spare notebook. He felt a new desire to _do something_ to combat the anxiety gnawing away at his peace of mind, a desire to get out of his job and to push forward to accomplish something that would be meaningful to him.

He just didn’t know what.

So he filled the notebook with sprawling script, detailing bits of song lyrics he’d thought up or dreams he’d had or brief thoughts that made fun of his present situation. He dug out his recorder and his trumpet, trying to remember music he hadn’t played since elementary school. He kept music playing almost constantly in the house, and often sang along.

Link talked to Rhett about this on the daily walks with Jade that the two of them now took together. Their walks inevitably ended with a brief hug that left Link both flustered and desperate for more.

“The first time I saw you,” Rhett said one day, “you were singing.”

“Really?”

Rhett nodded. “When you first moved in.”

“Oh!” Link laughed. “Yeah. I was young and innocent in those days. Thought something good was about to happen.” His smile faded.

They had reached the front of Link’s house. With the end of their walks always came the shuffling feet, the avoidance of eye contact that made Link feel vaguely anxious. He adjusted his glasses with one hand.

“Your hair still looks good,” Rhett said.

“Thanks.” Link ran a hand self-consciously through the dark strands, still a little shorter than he was used to. “Hey, um, I’m having some friends from work over on Friday,” he said quietly. “Do you want to come?”

He stole a glance up at Rhett. The sun was low in the sky, the fading red light leaving the taller man’s eyes darker than usual. “Yeah! Of course, man.”

Link thought back to the first time he’d invited Rhett to a party, how hesitant Rhett had been then. Now, he looked almost excited.

That Friday night, Link broke out all the alcohol he’d been keeping stored away for “special occasions.” He, Rhett, and his work friends watched a basketball playoff game, howling at every free throw and turn over. Link drank a whole lot more than he meant to. He dreaded the moment when he was left alone with no one but Jade to keep his thoughts at bay, so he tried to numb his restless mind as thoroughly as he could. By the time the game ended and his work buddies had gone home, he was slumped in his recliner, face flushed, his glasses long since discarded.

Only Rhett stayed with him, Jade curled up on the sofa beside him. He didn’t seem willing to leave Link in his current state, and Link wasn’t willing to let him leave. They talked, Link fighting the buzz in his head as their chatter gradually shifted from sports to more personal topics.

“So you’re telling me...” He vainly tried to suppress a giggle. “You’re telling me you’ve been single for the past year?”

Rhett’s cheeks reddened. “Yeah.”

“No dates?”

Rhett shook his head no, his eyes on the floor.

“Not even a happy tug in the backseat? Not even a _kiss_?” Link covered his mouth to stifle another bout of laughter. He didn’t know why, but he found it almost comical how someone as tall as Rhett could seem so shy. “Man, I could tell you some stories about the guys I slept with after I came out.”

“When was that?”

“College.” Link reached for his beer and almost missed it. “One of ‘em swore up and down that he was straight. He was practically screaming that he liked girls every time he snuck into my apartment, but that didn’t change the fact that he let me pound him all night long.” The memory was enough to set off a warm tingle in his belly. He took another drink. “That was a good time.”

Rhett was still staring at the floor.

 _Screw it_. He’d already made the topic vulgar, might as well go for broke. He didn’t have much left to lose. “Speaking of kisses... have _you_ ever kissed another guy before?”

He watched Rhett’s eyes flick down to his lips and away again. The man ran his hands over his legs and said nothing. Was he uncomfortable?

 _Of course he is._ Link smiled lazily to himself.

“Well, have you?” he prodded.

“No.” Rhett’s voice was a whisper.

“Too weird for you, huh?”

“No.” Now Rhett sounded as if he was being strangled.

Link gripped his knee to keep from shaking. It took some effort to speak again. “You wanna kiss me?”

He was prepared for Rhett to yell and call him names, to curse him out and leave him crushed. Link saw himself spending the rest of the evening alone with a black eye, drinking until his laughter and sobbing melded into one miserable, syrupy sound.

Instead, Rhett stole a tentative glance at him and in the smallest of voices, said, “Yes.”

~

Beards made kisses feel different, Link thought. 

He’d put his hands on Rhett’s shoulders as they came together. Now, he slowly moved them upwards until they rasped through the hair on Rhett’s face. The man was hesitant, but he wasn’t a bad kisser.

Out of habit from kisses shared with Andrew and others before him, Link trailed one hand down Rhett’s front, plunging towards his waistband.

“H-hey, wait, no...” Rhett broke away, hastily grabbing his hand. He looked stunned, but his face was redder than Link had ever seen it.

“How was that?” Link ran his tongue across his lips to catch any remainder of his taste.

“I-I need to go,” Rhett said, his voice small.

“Wait.” Link moved to get up with him. As soon as he tried to stand, the room tilted drunkenly around him. He staggered and fell back against the chair. “Wait!” He was sick of being subtle, sick of holding back and waiting for Rhett’s response. “Stay here. Please.” Rhett paused, one hand on the doorknob. “ _Please_ ,” he said, forcing the words out between teeth clenched in desperation. Once again, he had that feeling of trying to coax an animal out of hiding. “You don’t have to leave-”

Rhett turned away, shaking his head. He closed the door quietly behind him, but it might as well have been slammed shut.

“That was real stupid, wasn’t it, Jade?” Link murmured. “Real fucking _stupid_.” He groped for his beer again, but his hands were shaking so badly that he knocked it off the armrest. The bottle hit the floor with a dull thud.

As he watched the liquid seep into the carpet, he realized that he was about to cry.


	10. Chapter 10

He and Julie were fighting. Again. She was yelling, punctuating her words by slamming pots on the stove.

“I saw you kiss him!”

She spun away from the stove, waving a spoon at him. He wanted to reach for her, wanted to hold her close until she calmed down, but he was paralyzed.

“I saw you kiss him, Rhett!”

He opened his mouth to beg for her to stop shouting or the neighbors would hear. He wanted to tell her that he loved her wait no no that was all wrong he didn’t love her he hated her and they weren’t together he hadn’t talked to her in a year and he certainly wasn’t talking to her now because _this was a dream_.

But he still couldn’t move. She was advancing on him slowly, dark hair wild, her face set in that grimace of rage that meant she was going to hurt him. There was a hammer in her hand.

“Wake up.”

It was Link’s voice, coming from somewhere behind him.

“Rhett. Wake up.”

It was a suggestion, spoken calmly.

But he couldn’t. He had to watch Julie to keep her from hitting him. She was closer now, but moving in slow motion, her mouth forming soundless curses. She raised the hammer.

He let out a strangled sound and, with an enormous effort, raised his hand to catch the hammer before it connected with his head.

“Just open your eyes, Rhett,” Link said. “That’s all you need to do.”

Rhett opened his eyes.

It was morning. He was panting, tangled in the bedsheets, his entire body soaked in sweat. He stared at the ceiling for long moments, telling himself over and over to calm the fuck down. Julie was long gone. He didn’t need to worry about her anymore. He’d read online that nightmares like these weren’t uncommon after experiencing what he had with Julie, but it had been months since he’d had one. Slowly, he dragged a hand across his sweating forehead.

But then he remembered kissing Link and his heart was pounding all over again and he was hot - so hot - and _hard_. Like a drunken man, he staggered to the bathroom and turned on a cold shower.

Somehow, he ended up in the kitchen naked, clutching a toothbrush and staring at an orange.

It had been a long, long time since he’d last been kissed. He’d been a happier person then, more hopeful about the future. He was afraid of hoping now. Link had just gotten out of a long-term relationship. Him wanting a kiss was just the alcohol talking. He didn’t really like Rhett.

_But what if he did?_

Rhett stomped back upstairs and rummaged in the dresser drawers for some underwear. His hands slowed as his mind wandered once again.

What would he do if Link wanted more? What were these thoughts of a relationship, anyway? What could Link see in him?

_Hold on, wasn’t this what you wanted?_

_Well yeah, but..._

“I’m scared,” he said aloud, the image of Julie’s enraged face still fresh in his mind.

When he finally managed to get dressed, it was almost noon. A quick glance at the empty driveway across the street told him that Link wasn’t home. Rhett wasn’t sure what he would have done if Link had been there.

He forced himself to finish some housework. He picked up discarded clothes in the office, attacked the pile of dirty dishes in the sink, and swept up the pile of wood shavings beneath his desk that he’d been neglecting for weeks. He found his guitar again, leaning forgotten in a corner of his closet, and he thought back to the first time he’d seen Link, singing to himself on the front lawn. Slowly, Rhett lowered himself to the floor and plucked at the out-of-tune strings.

His doorbell rang.

Rhett was so wound up that he almost threw his guitar across the room. He scrambled down the stairs and opened the door.

Link was there, holding Jade in one arm.

“Wait.” Link put a hand on the door before Rhett could close it. His hair was a mess, his eyes red-rimmed. “Can I come in? Please, Rhett?”

Rhett ran his tongue over dry lips once, twice. Finally, he nodded and stepped aside

As he stepped inside, Link’s eyes widened. “Oh, nice!”

Rhett was confused at first; what was he looking at that was so interesting? Then it hit him, he hadn’t had visitors to his house in so long that he’d forgotten what the place must look like to unfamiliar eyes.

There was little carpet in Rhett’s house. All hardwood floors, wood paneling, the occasional rug, and shelves that he’d put up himself. A stack of books was spilling out of the bookshelf in one corner. The flatscreen TV took up most of the wall opposite the lone recliner.

There were carvings on almost every surface, figurines of all shapes and sizes that Rhett had made in his spare time. The earliest ones he’d made were rough and unfinished, whittled with jagged edges and crooked surfaces. He kept those on the mantelpiece as a reminder of how much he’d progressed. His more recent carvings had become more intricate and polished. Some were of small animals that had caught his imagination. Others were of intricate patterns he’d scratched into the wood on nights when he couldn’t sleep.

“That’s a lot of wood,” Link said with a lopsided grin. “Why do you do this?” He leaned forward to squint at a carving of an open-mouthed koi.

Rhett thought for a moment. “There used to be a retirement home near the house where I grew up. My mom would drive by and I’d see a few old guys out front. They were always sitting around and whittling. So I was thinking that if I got a head start now, I could be the best whittler around by the time I got to a retirement home.”

He was surprised when Link threw his head back and laughed out loud.

“That’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard, man,” he said.

Rhett wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so he shrugged. “I like to plan ahead.”

“But that far ahead?” Link shook his head, his eyebrows raised. “We’re not even middle-aged yet!”

“Never can be too prepared.”

Again, Link laughed. He scratched Jade gently behind the ears and cleared his throat. “Listen,” he said in a more serious voice, “I’m not gonna stay long. I just came over to apologize for last night.”

“Oh.” Rhett felt his ears burn.

“I’m sorry I had you kiss me.” Link smoothed Jade’s fur with a hand. “Really sorry.”

Rhett looked down at his hands, at the walls, anywhere but Link. Finally, he spoke.

“I like you.”

“What?”

Saying it out loud was almost frightening. It made his thoughts into something tangible, a force that he couldn’t hold back anymore. He couldn’t stop talking now. “Don’t, don’t be sorry,” he stammered. “I-I like you a lot. I’m sorry if that’s strange. I know there’s not much to like with all this.” He gestured at himself with both hands, at his overgrown hair, his old clothes. “But you’re the first...” His voice faltered, but he cleared his throat and tried again. “You’re the first person in a long time who’s made me feel like there might be something to look forward to.”

Rhett ran his tongue over his lips. Link was staring at him, his face pale.

“For real?” he asked sharply.

“How many different ways do you want me to say it!” Rhett burst out in sudden frustration. “If you’re gonna yell at me, just get it over with and get out of here.”

“What? No, I’m not gonna...” Link was smiling now. He looked almost dazed. “Listen, Rhett. I like you, too.”

“As a _friend_?” said Rhett suspiciously.

“No. Different from that.”

The words took a moment to sink in. Time slowed to a labored crawl. Link’s face was alight with surprise. He was talking rapidly, but Rhett could barely hear him.

 _I’m supposed to say something, too. What do I say?_ Link was still talking. _WHAT DO I SAY?_

_Say something cool. Like you would’ve said to Julie when you were getting to know her._

_No no no, I can’t do it. I can’t do it!_ His mind was a tangle of nerves and white noise. _I’m gonna fuck this up, too._

He must have said something out loud, because Link abruptly stopped talking.

“Hey,” he said gently, “we don’t have to talk about this right now. It’s, well, it’s a lot, right? I’ll leave you alone.” He headed for the door.

“No,” Rhett burst out, relieved when Link stopped. He pressed the heel of his bare foot into a scuff mark on the floor. He was talking too quickly again, the rapid sound of his voice almost alien to his ears. “Don’t leave. I know I ran away yesterday and I’m sorry I didn’t stay with you. That was stupid of me. But please stay for a bit. If you’re not doing anything.” He stammered on, “I mean, I-I just cleaned up the house. Do you maybe wanna see the rest of it?”

Somehow, they spent that whole Saturday together. Rhett made a potato salad and chili for lunch, and Link declared it almost as good as the cereal he had been eating the past few weeks. Afterwards, he got out his guitar and began picking through old country songs he hadn’t thought of in years. Link sang along to every one of them. Rhett loved his strong tenor voice. He sang along more quietly in a rumbly baritone when he could remember the words.

They - or rather, Link - talked for hours that day. Link talked about how much he hated work, about his recorder, about the lyrics scribbled in his notebook. Rhett was content to listen to the sound of his voice. When he suggested that they maybe write a song together, Link’s face brightened so much that he could almost feel it in his chest.

That evening, they sat on the bench on the porch and watched the sun set. Rhett was picking through a half-remembered melody on his guitar, something of Merle Haggard’s. Link yawned and said he needed to get to bed before he keeled over on the porch.

“I’ll walk you back,” Rhett said.

Link looked slightly bewildered. “Um, I just have to walk across the street, man.”

Rhett grinned. “You never know what terrors lurk in the darkness. There could be raccoons or skunks, or worse.”

“Yeah?” Link grinned back at him, his eyes shining in the porch light.

 _He’s so beautiful._ Rhett looked away. His own eyes were stinging with sudden emotion. “Yeah.”

Outside Link’s door, they paused again.

“I’m glad today happened,” Link said. “Real glad.” He looked up at Rhett expectantly.

“Yeah. Me too.” Rhett kept his gaze on his feet, but he could still feel Link’s eyes on him. It took Rhett a moment to figure out what he wanted.

He leaned forward and kissed Link, a quick peck on slightly parted lips.


	11. Chapter 11

The rest of the summer passed in a blur for Link. His stint of working overnight finally ended, and he and Rhett began spending nearly all of their free time together. He loved every moment of it. They took day trips to the city, they sang songs together on the porch on the weekends, and Link even managed to drag Rhett along to a work party. Both of them were caught up in the early stages of the relationship where learning the smallest new thing about the other person caused a little flurry of elation. Link was especially happy whenever he got Rhett to open up about something, like his reason for moving across the country.

“Julie McKnight,” Rhett told him one Sunday afternoon. “Met her freshman year of high school, but she wasn’t interested in me until college. We were on again, off again for years.”

They were walking through the patch of woods beyond the field behind Rhett’s house with Jade in tow. Rhett moved more slowly than usual; his back had been bothering him, he told Link. The sun shone in searing patches through the leaves above. They kept to the shade, finding what relief from the mid-afternoon heat that they could.

“She cheated on me,” Rhett said in a low voice, his face tight with remembered pain. “More than once. The first time I confronted her about it, she got violent. Started hitting me and threatened to kill herself if I left. I was terrified, of course, so I stayed.”

“What?”

“I-I didn’t know what to do!” Rhett was speaking more quickly now, gesturing with both hands. Link had never seen him so animated. “I was scared, but I didn’t want anyone to know it. Men who get pushed around just get laughed at, right? Who’s gonna listen to the six foot seven man who’s afraid that his five foot four girlfriend might hurt him? Anyway the second time I found out she was cheating, she actually _did_ try killing herself and ended up the hospital. I thought it was my fault. If I’d just been a better boyfriend, then she wouldn’t have cheated on me. If I’d just been a better boyfriend, then she wouldn’t have taken those pills. I was afraid of her and _for_ her. It was terrible.”

He stopped walking, rubbing his sweaty hands over his jeans. He looked so troubled that Link opened his mouth to change the subject, but stopped himself in time. Rhett needed to talk. “Then... then she cheated _again_ , this time with a good friend of mine. I was furious. We fought for hours. I’ll admit, I said some things I’m not proud of. I wanted to hurt her. But then she tried to crack me over the head with a freaking hammer. Neighbors heard us yelling and called the police.”

He trailed off. Link had never seen him look so upset before, face red and eyes fixed on something far away. He reached out and grasped his hand, glad when Rhett squeezed back.

“After that,” he continued in a small voice, his throat working convulsively, “after that, I got out. My family found out and wanted me to press charges, but I said no. Felt like I was the laughingstock of the whole neighborhood. I was so ashamed that I just wanted to get far away from it all.” He laughed bitterly. “It’s funny, because even after I moved out here, I remember thinking, ‘Oh, if I had just done this or that, I could’ve fixed everything. I could’ve made things work.’ I really wanted to get married and have a family like my brother did. Kids to read to at night and play ball with.” Link nodded. “But everything got so messed up. I came out here because I wanted something different. Different doesn’t always mean better though.”

“I’m sorry, man.” Link kicked a branch aside as they began walking again. “I can’t even imagine what that must’ve been like.”

“It was _hell_.”

They were quiet for a while. In the trees overhead, a few sparrows chirped back and forth. Jade stopped to pee against a tree trunk before charging ahead of them again.

“I can imagine what it must’ve felt like to want to have a family though,” Link said. “My parents split when I was really small, and I told myself that I’d do better, that I’d get married and settle down. When I met Andrew, I thought that I was set.” He looked down at his hand, where his engagement ring had been. After a moment, he asked, “Do you miss California?”

Rhett said nothing at first. He had a habit of sinking into deep silence when he was thinking, Link had noticed, and the only way to get past these times was to wait. “Some,” he said. “My brother offered to move me in with his family when I went to visit. Did I tell you that? I told him no, though.”

“Why?”

Rhett shrugged. “He’s a _pastor_ , man. He has a family. A fine, upstanding citizen. My parents are so proud of him. But look at me.” Rhett gestured at himself, at his shaggy haircut and the torn jeans and old t-shirt he wore. “I don’t want to be in a position that would invite any more comparisons between the two of us.”

Link chuckled. “Got it.”

They walked between the trees, passing between sunlight and shadow. Jade saw a squirrel and tried to charge after it, but Link pulled her back.

“Not today, Jade,” he called to her. He put his arm around Rhett’s waist. It always amused him how Rhett would tense up at his touch before gradually sinking into it.

“I’m glad you got out of that situation,” he said. “Scary place to be in, when someone has that much control over you.”

Rhett only grunted in agreement. He’d spoken enough for today, it seemed.

In an effort to cheer him up, Link asked, “Hey, you know what you need?” He turned Rhett to face him. “A new hairstyle. Take it from me. I got a new hairstyle for the first time in ten years and it made me feel like a different person. You’d look so handsome like this...” He pushed the blond curls up from his forehead.

Rhett scoffed at him.  


“Seriously. Get some gel, make your hair go up, and...” He whistled. “Hot stuff.”

A bit of warmth touched Rhett’s cheeks then, a bit of brightness shone in otherwise-sad eyes. “You really think so?”

Link grinned. “I wanted to be a hairdresser for a while when I was younger, so yeah, I think so.” He ran his fingers through Rhett’s hair once more, slowly this time. Rhett’s eyes dropped to his lips.

He let Link kiss him today. Sometimes he wasn’t in the mood for affection and seemed to make a point of ignoring Link hinting at wanting more physical contact. They hadn’t done much physically yet, but Link didn’t mind. He loved turning his face up to meet Rhett’s. He loved putting his arm around his waist, surprisingly narrow beneath the loose clothes Rhett always wore. He loved the feeling of comfort - wait, was it really _comfort_ he felt? - when Rhett finally relaxed and draped a long arm across his shoulders.

“Let’s go on a date,” Link said suddenly. “A real dressed-up date. It’s been months since I’ve been on one.”

Rhett chuckled. “I haven’t been on one in years. I don’t think I even have a suit.”

“Well... find one then. Rent one or something.” Link waved dismissively. “Actually, I don’t care what you wear. I just want to go out somewhere nice.”

Rhett laughed. “Okay.” He pulled Link closer, drawing a breathless giggle from him. “I’ll come by your house tomorrow in a burlap sack.”

Link nudged him in the ribs. “C’mon, that’s what I was gonna wear!”

Their laughter rose together, the sound as warm as the kisses they traded.

~

Link checked himself in the mirror once again. Good, he’d remembered to clean his glasses. On second thought, he discarded them altogether. He wore his suit and a sky-blue bowtie. It had taken him ages to settle on what to do with his hair; he finally gave up, parted it on one side, and slicked it all back. Link hoped he hoped he looked good, despite the dark circles under his eyes. He wanted to see that surprised look on Rhett’s face at the sight of him looking different.

Jade was spending some time at a coworker’s house, and he felt vaguely sad that she wasn’t around to distract him from his increasing nerves about the impending date. But when the doorbell rang, he forgot everything else and fluttered around the bathroom for a full minute before realizing he should probably go downstairs. Rhett could’ve just walked in, of course; each of them had a spare key to the other man’s house. But it felt more like a date to be formally answering the door.

“Hi,” Rhett said softly.

Link had to hold onto the doorknob because his knees went a little weak.

Rhett had raked his hair back from his forehead, drawing even more attention to his eyes. He’d trimmed his beard, too. His face seemed sharper somehow, his gaze more piercing. He wore a suit - an honest-to-goodness suit - but no tie, keeping the top buttons of his shirt open. He looked incredible.

 _A little less cuddly, a little more dangerous._ The thought sent chills down Link’s arms.

Rhett’s cheeks stood out in a faint smile. “You look great, Link.”

“Thanks,” Link faltered. “You don’t look bad yourself. Um hey, I-I got you something.” He pulled a bowtie from his pocket. Rhett’s eyes lit up.

“Thanks, Link!” Rhett took the tie from him, almost reverently.

“I wasn’t sure if you had one,” Link continued, “so I got one on the way home from work yesterday.” One corner of his mouth curved upwards as he watched Rhett’s attempts at tying it. “Do you know how to put that on?”

“It’s been a while,” Rhett admitted.

“Let me.” Without waiting for a response, Link stepped closer, pulled the fabric close on either side of Rhett’s neck. He buttoned up his shirt quickly and got to work tying the perfect bow. He could feel Rhett’s eyes on him. While it was intimidating to be under such scrutiny, the knowledge that Rhett liked what he saw made him feel warm inside.

“There.” Link gave the bowtie a final pat, and would’ve stepped away if Rhett hadn’t caught his hand. He brushed his lips against the tips of Link’s fingers, his gaze never wavering.

“Thank you, Link.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [The song mentioned](https://open.spotify.com/track/6yuhA5jlK7gEAIVoJ5WK1f)   
> 

When was the last time he’d been on a date? Rhett couldn’t remember. It had to have been over a year ago, back when he and Julie were still together, before the tentative peace of their relationship shattered forever.

In the car, he kept sneaking glances at Link as he drove. He looked so different with his hair slicked back, his face bolder and more imposing. He smiled devilishly when he caught Rhett’s eyes.

“See somethin’ you like, bo?” he drawled.

Rhett looked away quickly. “Aw man, stop it.” Link only chuckled.

The restaurant was an elaborate affair, dimly lit by candles at each polished table. Somewhere in the background, a saxophone softly crooned the chorus of “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye.” The richly dressed patrons spoke in muted voices beneath the clink of knives and forks. Despite his suit, Rhett felt terribly out of place. As the waitress led them to their booth, he followed behind Link, his head bowed.

“What’s wrong?” Link asked once they were alone with their menus.

Rhett shrugged. “Feels like everyone’s looking at me.”

“Well yeah, probably. You _are_ freaking tall.”

“And my hair’s ridiculous.” Rhett put up a hand to touch the unusually stiff spikes.

“Don’t mess it up!” Link pulled his hand back to the table and gently squeezed. “I like your hair like that.”

Rhett’s heart swelled at the sight of Link, his blue eyes gleaming in the candlelight. It was still difficult to grasp the fact that Link _really liked him_. Link, who was never hesitant about kissing or touching him. Link, who was understanding of his occasional need for silence, instead of complaining that he “never wanted to talk,” as Julie had done.

Thinking back to this date later, Rhett could never remember what they ate. He did remember clearing off his plate in a matter of minutes though, with Link watching in amazement.

“What?” he said. “I’m hungry!” He noticed that Link had barely touched his food. “You’re not.”

“Nah.” Link leaned his chin on his hand. “I got somethin’ else I want to eat.” The tip of his tongue, just poking out from the corner of his mouth, made Rhett’s heart beat a little bit faster.

The rest of the date passed in a haze. Rhett’s mind was fastened on what he knew would be coming _after_. He wanted it, he was ready for it now, but he just hoped he didn’t disappoint Link.

~

At Link’s doorway, time dragged to a halt. Rhett couldn’t figure out how to ask if he could come in, or should he just say goodnight after all? But when he opened his mouth to speak, Link pulled him inside by the lapels of his coat and pressed their mouths together.

“Please,” Link whispered between kisses. “I need you now.”

“N-now?” Rhett repeated.

“You... just standin’ there in that suit...” He pulled off their suit coats before his lips were against Rhett’s again. “Feels like I’ve been starvin’ and forced to stare at a feast.”

Rhett couldn’t help grinning. “I’m a feast?”

Link groaned. “You can be whatever you want to be, just kiss me again.” He didn’t say, _Or else_ , but those words resonated in Rhett’s mind, leaving him trembling.

They didn’t make it to the couch. Rhett ended up flat on his back on the floor with Link astride him, their clothes rumpled and half-discarded. Link’s hands went beneath his shirt, straight to his nipples.

“Like it?” Link whispered. Rhett grit as Link twisted the hardening flesh with both hands. Before he could think to speak, Link somehow had his shirt open and was teasing a nipple with his tongue.

“That’s good,” he whispered. “That’s real good...”

Link’s expert touch was on his face, his chest, now tracing the outline of his hardening cock with a sure hand. Rhett couldn’t help moaning. _Oh gosh._ The sound of his voice was strange, weak and pleading between kisses, and he half-expected Link to laugh at him.

“It’s okay,” Link breathed. “It’s okay. You don’t have to be quiet here.” His fingers tightened. “Let me hear you.”

Rhett whimpered, squirming a little beneath him. Link was smiling devilishly at him, his eyes dark.

“What was that?”

Rhett knew if he spoke, he’d tell Link to stop. If focused too much on that ravenous look in Link’s eyes, he knew that all this would all become so terrifying and amazing and _real_ that he’d panic and stumble back to his own house and curse himself for being such a coward. In answer, he lowered his hands to his belt. Link took over with shakier hands. Pants and underwear were quickly discarded from them both.

At Link’s touch on his shaft, Rhett flinched. It had been so long since anyone had touched him there besides himself that the feeling left him shaky. Link was rolling his hips slowly, _perfectly_. Their mouths were together again, the hunger in that kiss enough to make Rhett dizzy. He was touching them both too, rough strokes that quickly brought Rhett to the edge. He’d forgotten about being quiet now, his voice rising in a wordless cry as he thrust into Link’s hand.

He came hard enough to make his whole body convulse, tears gathering in his eyes. Link kept one hand on him, rubbing gently until Rhett whispered for him to stop. Link’s own cock was still stiff between them, and Rhett reached for it without a second thought. He began stroking him furiously, watching how Link’s eyes glazed over and his mouth drifted open to reveal the tips of his canine teeth. He let out a sudden, sharp gasp as he came, his seed spilling through Rhett’s fingers.

Their breathing blended into one soft sound, rising and falling. Rhett’s back was aching from being against the unyielding floor for so long, but he didn’t care. Link’s body was against his and he didn’t want to move.

Link pressed his lips against Rhett’s neck and whispered that they might be more comfortable in the bedroom. Rhett didn’t speak, but Link seemed to understand. They went upstairs, fingers laced together as they walked. There were towels to clean them off in the bathroom, a blanket pulled over them both in the bed, and the solid warmth of Link by his side as he fell asleep.

They came together again later that night in a long, slow time of kissing and heavy touches. Link finally disappeared beneath the sheets. Rhett only had seconds to wonder what he was doing before his cock was enveloped in wet warmth. For the second time that night, he was left helpless, desperate for Link’s arms around him to keep him from losing his mind as he fell apart. He needed this. He needed to be held and told that he could just let go, that he didn’t need to keep himself in check anymore.

Afterwards, Link told him he was beautiful. Still wordless, Rhett pulled the smaller man against him and buried his face in Link’s hair.

~

The sparrows and mockingbirds always seemed to chirp loudest early in the morning. Rhett squinted at the sunlight filtering through the blinds. Link was curled up beside him, mouth moving soundlessly in sleep talk. Rhett lifted himself up on one elbow to look down at him.

 _He likes me._ The thought was incredible, but just as true as it had been last night. Rhett clung to it, believed it with every fiber of his being. _He really likes me._

Rhett brushed the errant dark hair from Link’s forehead, traced the edge of his jaw with a thumb. He couldn’t get over the simultaneous strength and sweetness in that face.

“Mm?” Link opened one blue eye. “Hey you.” He chased Rhett’s thumb with his tongue, smirking when the other man pulled away.

“Hungry?”

Link shook his head.

“I am.” Rhett moved to get out of bed but Link suddenly latched onto his torso, wiry arms and legs wrapping around him. “What the-”

“Stay,” Link mumbled.

“But I’m hungry!” Rhett protested.

“We’ll make breakfast together,” Link said soothingly. He held Rhett tighter, one hand trailing over the bare expanse of his stomach. “Later.”


	13. Chapter 13

“I hate my job,” Link said to him one overcast Wednesday afternoon in mid-September. The air was cool with the promise of chilly weather ahead. They were sitting on Link’s porch, trying to come up with a song about dogs. “I hate it so much.”

“Then you should quit,” Rhett said absently. His attention was on the sheet of half-completed lyrics that Link had printed for them. They were going to be performing as part of the music lineup at their township’s local fall festival, and had agreed on singing a mixture of old favorite songs and newly written tunes.

“Man, how can I just quit? I got bills to pay.”

“You got savings, don’t you? Live off that while you figure out what you want to do next.” Rhett squinted.  “Hey, why did you rhyme ‘paw’ with ‘ma’ here? That doesn’t makes sense.”

Link scooted closer to him across the floorboards. “Here.” He put his hand on Rhett’s shoulder as he reached for the lyric sheet. “Lemme see.”

“Hands off, please.”

A hurt expression crossed Link’s face. “What?”

“Hands off, please,” Rhett repeated. “Y’know, like Victor Borge said in that old skit. Anyway, I think the second verse-”

“Why don’t you like it when I touch you?” Link muttered.

“Eh.” Rhett shrugged. “I like my personal space. But like I was saying-”

“But we’re dating, aren’t we?” There was confusion in Link’s voice. “You don’t want me in your personal space even though we’re _dating_?”

It dawned on Rhett that Link was unhappy with him. “Well, not always.” He strummed a faint chord with a sigh. “Um, is that a problem?”

Link spread his arms wide. “Well, I’d think you’d want to have your boyfriend close to you. That’s what normal people want.”

“Are you calling me weird?”

“Maybe.”

Rhett shook his head. “You’re so clingy sometimes.”

Link’s heart sank. “Clingy?” His voice was rising. “It’s clingy for me to put my hand on your shoulder.”

“Well...” Rhett thought for a moment. “It can be.”

Link’s face darkened. “Why do you always have to be so... so freaking _macho_? Why can’t you just calm down once in a while? Sometimes I want to be close to you because you’re my freaking boyfriend but you... you...” His mouth worked soundlessly. “Forget it. I don’t feel like working on this song right now.”

But now Rhett was annoyed. “Why does that bother you so much?” he demanded as he put his guitar away. “It’s true. You’re clingy. Sometimes you overreact, too.”

“And sometimes you don’t think about my feelings before you say stupid stuff,” Link snapped.

Rhett zipped up his guitar case violently. “That makes two of us.” He slung his case over his shoulder as he got to his feet.

“Where are you going?”

“Home.”

Rhett was fuming. He went home and dropped the guitar in a corner, but after pacing from the kitchen to the front door and back again, the house seemed too small to contain his irritation. So he went for a walk. Link had disappeared from his front porch.

Through the field behind his house he strode, hands in the pockets of his hoodie. He didn’t stop walking, not even when raindrops began pattering on his head.

Lately, he and Link had been arguing more often. It was inevitable, as the shiny veneer of their new relationship gave way to the realities of day-to-day life, but Rhett still hated it. Link was never one to shy away from an argument, and Rhett always seemed to be stumbling into an exchange that led to them bickering.

The rain fell more heavily now. Rhett turned back to look at the cluster of houses that made up his neighborhood and sighed. Might as well head back now, before he caught a cold from wandering around in wet clothes.

There was a pitiful sound barely audible over the rainfall, a high thin whine in the bushes. Rhett knelt to investigate. There was a puppy hiding from the rain, its white fur matted with mud. It looked up at him, trembling.

“Hey.” Rhett extended a hand, and the puppy nosed weakly at it. A girl. She had no tags. “You don’t belong to anyone, do you?”

Thunder rumbled overhead, and the puppy shrank back. The sky was growing darker. Rhett glanced up in time to see lightning flicker on the horizon.

“Come here.” He took off his hoodie and carefully wrapped her in it. She was shivering.

“It’s okay,” he murmured, unsure if he was talking to her or himself. “You’ll be okay.”

Back home, he had to think for a moment before he figured out what to do. Put her in the bathtub. Get some warm water. Could dogs use regular soap? Rhett frowned. Maybe water was good enough. But when he saw blood on her leg, he bit his lip. He wasn’t equipped to deal with complications like this; he hadn’t owned a dog since childhood.

He grabbed his phone.

Link came over almost immediately in response to Rhett’s text. “Hey,” he said quietly, not meeting Rhett’s eyes.

“Dog’s upstairs,” Rhett said, tilting his head.

The duffel bag turned out to be full of dog food, toys, ointments, and things that Rhett had never seen before.

“Helps to always be prepared,” Link explained.

Rhett stood by meekly as Link bathed the puppy, dried her, and put some ointment on the cut in her leg. They moved downstairs to the kitchen and he fed her a little as well, speaking to her soothingly all the while. Rhett had never seen him treat anyone so gently before, except maybe for Jade. The puppy was still timid, but very patient. Link gave him advice on how to take care of her for the rest of the night.

“Probably abandoned,” he told Rhett when he was finished. “Owner couldn’t be bothered to get her to a shelter, so he dumped her out of his car.” He shook his head. “Crazy how anyone could do something like that.”

“I want to keep her,” Rhett said.

Link shrugged. “Ain’t nobody stoppin’ you.” He pointed at the duffel bag. “I’m leaving this with you. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Wait.” Rhett put a hand on his shoulder and gently squeezed. “Can we talk about earlier?”

Link gave him a weary smile and a brief kiss. “I have to get up early for work. We’ll talk tomorrow night, okay?”

 _No sleeping in the same bed tonight, then_. “Okay.”

“Good. Now do what I told you and she’ll be just fine.”

When he’d gone, Rhett put out his hand to the puppy. Her tiny licks tickled his palm. She was so _small_.

Thunder crashed overhead. She shrank back from him, huddling in the furthest corner of the kitchen.

“Hey.” Rhett got down on the floor beside her. “It’s okay. I don’t like thunder much either.”

She looked at him. If she’d been a human, her expression would have been skeptical, Rhett thought. He hastily rummaged through the bag Link had left and came away with a bag of treats. He poured a few into one hand and held them out towards her.

“You’re gonna feel much better once you come sit with me,” he said gently.

It took some urging, but he managed to get her out of the corner and into his arms. He folded his body around her, scratching her gently behind the ears. She was as warm and cuddly as Jade. Holding her reminded him of the first time he’d held Jade, back when Link had first caught his eye. He remembered being captured by Link’s voice, his eyes, his easy way of waiting until Rhett was ready to talk.

The realization hit him like a sack of bricks. He was being selfish. Link was going through a difficult time and needed his support, but Rhett had brushed him off without thinking. Even after opening up about Julie, he was still keeping Link at arm’s length.

What had Link wanted? To be near him. To touch him at other times than just during sex. He wanted the attention that anyone would want from their significant other.

Thunder crashed again, and the puppy whimpered. To distract her, Rhett turned on the wireless speaker by the TV and put on some music. The Avett Brothers, Barbara Mandrell, and Merle Haggard, among others, played in a mix as he sat on the recliner with the puppy in his lap. He thought over the lyrics of the song he and Link had been working on. Every now and then he sang a little along with the music, but mostly he let his mind wander.

He and Julie had never been into hand-holding or cuddling or any kind of physical contact that wasn’t directly related to them sleeping together. Or fighting.  


 _But Link isn’t Julie._ He said it out loud, and the puppy gave him a look that he interpreted as one of confusion. “He’s not,” he told her. “And I haven’t been appreciating that enough.”  


When he was with Julie, every argument had the potential to escalate into a knock-down, drag-out fight, almost literally. With Link, he still felt uncomfortable and angry when they fought, but there was a part of him that was finally coming to understand that Link wasn’t going to threaten to leave him. Link wasn’t going to come after him with a hammer. Link might snap at him when he couldn’t get his point across, but he’d still always be there if Rhett needed him. Even if he was just there to help a puppy feel better.


	14. Chapter 14

The puppy was doing better these days. With Link helping him out, Rhett took her to the vet, got her checked out and up-to-date on her shots, and got her the food and supplies she needed.

“I named her Barbara,” he told Link one day. The two puppies were roughhousing on the deck in Link’s backyard, their paws padding on the wood floor, tails flashing as they flipped over each other.

Link laughed. “What kind of a name is that?”

“You ever listen to Barbara Mandrell? I liked the name.”

Link snorted. “Shoot, I should’ve named Jade ‘Merle’ instead.”

He felt happier than he had in a long time. He loved having someone waiting to kiss him hello after work. He loved singing with Rhett during their brainstorming sessions. He loved waking up to the warmth of Rhett’s body as the weather turned crisp outside. He loved that, even when they argued about the future, he didn’t have to worry that their disagreements would tear their relationship apart.

It felt good to talk things out after an argument. Andrew had rarely wanted to talk, preferring to brush their arguments aside however he could. As he recalled their relationship now, he wondered what he’d ever seen in Andrew. The other man had been completely self-absorbed, very different from Rhett.

Rhett lavishing attention on him was unsettling at first. He dearly loved it, but his gut reaction was always to downplay, deflect, redirect. He was afraid that Rhett would get tired of him, would want to move on to someone less needy for compliments, so he tried to act like he didn’t need them. But Rhett had finally pointed out that if _Link_ got to say he was beautiful, then _he_ got to say it, too.

“And I get to say it,” he whispered that night, steadying Link’s head with his large hands as they kissed on the bed in the dark, his heavier weight comforting on top. “I get to say because it’s _true_.” The words sent chills up Link’s spine.

Rhett was more confident these days, no longer waiting for Link to take initiative when they spent nights together. He quickly learned to adjust to Link’s moods, sometimes being rough and overpowering, other times being sweet and delicate. Link felt light-headed in the best way possible when Rhett treated him like this. He had a way of being so gentle that Link couldn’t help to give up control. It was surprising to think about, really. Link had always resisted trusting other partners fully. But Rhett gave so much and so freely of himself now that Link couldn’t help but do the same.

~

Rhett was coming out of his shell in other ways as well. He began opening up to Link about the ideas he had - and there were many of them. Link was very impressed by the breadth of his knowledge, but he rarely gave Rhett the satisfaction of knowing this. Rhett could be a know-it-all, he learned, and his sometimes-dismissive solutions of Link’s problems often grated on his nerves.

“I still think you should quit your job,” he told Link one morning. They were out shopping today. Link had insisted on helping Rhett pick out some new clothes for their upcoming fall festival performance after the taller man had let slip that he hadn’t bought new clothes since moving to the East Coast the previous year. “If you hate it that much, why not try for something else?”

Link took a few t-shirts from a display table and handed them to Rhett. “Like what?”

Rhett looked around, as if he was afraid of someone else in the almost-empty department store eavesdropping on them. “Listen, I’ve been thinking about what we should do next.”

“You’re always thinking, Rhett. Why do we have to do anything?” Link sighed. “We’re together, right? That’s not good enough?”

Rhett ran a hand through his hair. He was wearing it up more often these days. “But what kind of life is this, Link? We don’t live together. We only have nights and weekends to work on music.” He ran his tongue over his lips. “What if we had more time to do what we wanted together?”

Link picked a plaid shirt off the rack. “Yes, you have to try this on,” he said before the taller man could object. “What do you mean by more time?”

“I don’t know.” Rhett was frowning again, his gaze distant.

“Well, think about it then. And try these on.” Link pushed a protesting Rhett towards the dressing room. “I’ll be out here.”

Rhett emerged from the room a little while later, wearing the plaid shirt and a pair of gray jeans. Link had to stop for a moment. The jeans were clearly not long enough for Rhett’s long legs, but the shirt accented his broad shoulders wonderfully.

“This is too tight,” Rhett said moodily, tugging at the collar.

“You don’t like it?” Link undid the top button. “I think you look great.”

Rhett looked down at himself, at the too-short jeans he’d tried on. “My legs are so skinny,” he said woefully.

Link turned him to face the mirror and put an arm around his waist. “Just look at yourself and tell me you don’t like what you see.”

He never tired of seeing Rhett standing head and shoulders above him. He looked uncomfortable now, but Link was beaming.

“You look better in clothes like this,” said Rhett, gesturing at the high tops and jeans and Star Wars tee that Link wore. “Nobody needs to see how skinny I am.”

“Oh stop it.” Link stood on his toes and planted a kiss on Rhett’s cheek. “You look hot.”

~

On the day of their fall festival performance, Link was a mixture of excitement and nerves. The last time he’d performed in front of people had been at an elementary school play. Rhett, however, was very talkative today.

“I used to play in a band in high school,” he explained as they pulled up to the festival grounds.

“Were you any good?” Link asked as he got out of the car, shivering a little in the chill air. He should’ve brought a hoodie, he thought.

“We played in the garage.” Rhett grabbed his guitar case from the backseat and hurried to fall into step with Link. “Got to perform at some Christian music festivals and thought we were hot stuff. We were terrible, of course.”

Link grinned. “Of course.” He twirled his recorder in one hand.

The festival was taking place in a roadside field that usually stood empty for the rest of the year. It was flanked by a cornfield maze on one side and the gravel parking lot on the other. There were already groups of people milling about as Rhett and Link strode past, some looking at the food offered for sale while others played games set up for the occasion. Link gestured at the green tractor hooked to a hay-filled trailer idled off to one side.

“Wanna go on a ride later?”

Rhett shook his head. “Eh... you can go if you want. The hay bothers my eyes.”

“Put on goggles then.” Link stuck out his tongue. “Nah, I’m kidding. We should go in the corn maze, though.”

“After we sing,” Rhett said firmly. “I don’t wanna be stuck deep in there when it’s our turn to perform.”

The stage was set back from the road, near the entrance to the corn maze. There was a small crowd of musicians hanging around, tuning instruments and looking over lyrics and sheet music. Link asked around and learned that he and Rhett were performing towards the beginning of the night.

“Why so early?” Rhett asked when Link told him the news. “Fewer people are gonna hear us now.”

“That give us more time to enjoy ourselves!” Link exaggerated a pout. “What, you don’t wanna hang out with me?”

Rhett pulled him close for a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead. “Nope. You smell.”

The performance went better than he could have hoped. He felt a little shaky when he and Rhett first took the stage, as he introduced their first song to the scattered group of mildly interested festival attendees. But the polite applause their songs received was enough to calm him down a bit. Performing was... _fun_? He got a rush from hearing his and Rhett’s voices entwined, amplified by the speakers before them. His recorder-playing sounded worse than he’d expected during the first song, so he ended up pocketing the instrument and singing the remainder of their songs.

After four brief songs, Rhett thanked the growing crowd for listening and they left the stage to a smattering of applause.

“That was awesome!” Link said, bouncing from foot to foot as he waited for Rhett to put his guitar away behind the stage.

“Yeah!” Rhett’s face was alight with excitement. “Hey, maybe this is something we could do again.”

They returned their instruments to the car and Rhett grabbed his hoodie from the backseat. They spent some time wandering through the festival. Rhett bought funnel cake for both of them but ended up eating most of it. Link bought him an elaborately designed collar for Barbara. Rhett’s eyes lit up when he saw it, and he spent half an hour talking to the man who made the collars (and other pet accessories) about his work.

“No, wait, I-I think I found a new layer,” he protested as Link finally managed to drag him away from their chat. “I wanna make pet things now.”

“No Rhett, you don’t,” Link said firmly. “You’re just saying that because you see something new and shiny that you’ve never thought of before. You’ll get tired of it soon enough.”

Rhett’s face fell a little. “Okay.”

“You already have stuff to do. Like music and carving things.” Link stepped closer and laced his fingers through Rhett’s. “And me.” He laughed when Rhett shot him a sidelong look of disbelief. “Hey, you want to go in the maze?”

The sun was descending crimson on the horizon as they followed the path between the cornstalks. Link refused to let go of Rhett’s hand.

“I don’t wanna get lost,” he said when Rhett protested. “One time when I was little, my mom took me and my stepsister to one of these mazes and she told us to stick together. Of course, she ran off with her friends and left me by myself.”

“Did you find a way out?” Rhett asked.

“No. My mom had to come in and holler for me until I found her.” Link shivered at the memory. It had been years, but he could still remember those miserable feelings of confusion and slowly building panic.

Familiar feelings, now that he thought about it.

They ran into a few people at first - kids laughing as they played hide-and-seek, teenagers yelling at each other to _wait for me!_ \- but the deeper they got into the maze, the fewer people they saw. The cornstalks around them were a good couple of feet above Rhett’s head, leaving nothing but a patch of twilight sky visible overhead. The further they walked, the more muffled the sounds of music and laughter from the festival became.

Rhett stopped and turned to face him. They were alone on the dirt path, cornstalks rustling all around them. Link felt paralyzed by those eyes, dark in the receding light; Rhett always looked at him as if he was trying to memorize every line of his face, as if he was looking at Link for the last time.

“What?” Link’s voice wavered a little.

Rhett pulled him close, enveloping him in warmth and the faint but lingering smell of body spray. “You’re cold.”

“I forgot to bring a sweater.”

Rhett unzipped his sweatshirt. “Here.” When Link hesitated, he wrapped the hoodie around him. “You’re _always_ cold.”

“Fine.” Link pulled his arms through the sleeves. “Thanks.”

They walked more slowly now, Rhett with an arm across his shoulders.

“You ever been to this festival before?”

“No,” Rhett said. “When I moved here last year, I wasn’t really in the mood for enjoying myself.”

It was dark now, the only lights coming from the light bulbs set up on poles at regular intervals. A trio of teenagers burst out of the cornstalks and raced past, yelling something about trying to escape the maze in record time.

“Do you know how to get out of a maze if you get lost?” Rhett asked when they’d gone. “I don’t know if it’s the fastest way, but it’s always worked for me. You find a wall. Keep your hand on it and pick a direction to walk in. Even if you think you’re going the wrong way, keep walking. Keep you hand on the wall. You’ll find the way out eventually.”

Link snorted. “Sounds like a lame inspirational speech.”

He felt rather than heard Rhett’s chuckle. “Hey, my brother’s a pastor. Blame him.”

“Whatever.” Link tilted his head back to look at the few stars visible in the sky. “I’m still cold.”

“Maybe this will help.”

Rhett pushed him into the cornstalks beside the path and turned Link’s face up to meet his. He kissed the smaller man lightly, on his forehead, cheek, chin, and the tip of his nose. A sigh escaped Link as his chapped lips met Rhett’s warm ones. He had a fleeting thought of needing to buy more chapstick before Rhett’s hands were in his hair and they were kissing with everything they had.

“Rhett, Rhett, not here,” he whispered when he could breathe again, heart pounding in his chest. “There’s... there are people...”

Rhett was busy tracing the outline of his hips with both hands. “Home?” he rumbled.

Link nodded wordlessly.

They found the exit quickly, Rhett keeping one hand trailing through the corn leaves as they walked.

This night, they stayed in Rhett’s house, the dogs sleeping in their beds downstairs.

This night, it was Rhett’s turn to work his magic, hands and mouth working in sync to melt Link into a writhing, moaning mess. When he came, Rhett wasn’t done. Rhett turned him over, spread him out, opened him up, and pushed his way in. Rhett whispered sweet things in his ear and moved slowly until Link was hard all over again and Rhett reached around to stroke him in time with his thrusts.

Link let Rhett push him over the edge once again; he let himself fall. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew Rhett was falling too - sharp thrusts, a quick grunt, and then he was empty and he was falling for real. Rhett caught him and held him and for the first time, he said, “I love you.”

And Link wasn’t falling anymore. He was floating and his troubles were far, far away.

“I love you too, Rhett.”


	15. Chapter 15

Rhett’s birthday came and went, but he barely acknowledged it besides a brief night out with Link. He was fixated on the idea of them being successful in music. It seemed like every weekend they were singing somewhere, whether it was at open mic nights or community gatherings or even a wedding. Rhett practiced guitar so much that his fingers regained the calluses that he had back when he was playing in his high school band. Link’s recorder playing stopped sounding like a tinny squealing and more like actual music. For Rhett, life settled into a routine of waking up, taking the dogs out, forcing himself to do the bare minimum of work in the office, and then hours and hours of playing guitar while he waited for Link to get home from work.

“Have you thought about giving them your notice yet?” he asked Link one night as they lay together in the dark. He was trying to phrase the question more diplomatically now; Link hated when he said “quit.”

“I dunno... I feel weird about leaving,” Link murmured from his spot buried in the pillows. He rolled over to face Rhett. “I grew up kinda poor. My mother always wanted to see me go to college, get a good job so I wouldn’t have to worry about money like she did. And I have that now.”

“But you hate it,” Rhett pointed out. “All you do when you come home is complain about how miserable things are there. I’m not a fan of my job either. Listen, when we perform together, I can see how happy you are. I know how happy I am. But other than that, you’ve been cranky and miserable. What would it hurt if we both tried to see how far we can go with this music thing?” When Link said nothing, he ran his tongue over his lips and tried again. “Please?”

“I’ll think about it,” Link said finally.

But one Monday afternoon in late November a week later, when the last remaining leaves on the trees outside were crackly and brown, Rhett opened his inbox to find unwelcome news.

His employer had decided to stop working with remote employees.

He was being laid off.

~

“This is a good thing!” Rhett insisted for what felt like the hundredth time. Link only shook his head and kept pacing the living room. “Listen, I was planning on leaving my job anyway. I just wanted to put my notice in at the same time you did.”

The puppies scampered around Link’s ankles, wanting to be held, but Link didn’t even look at them. “So we both quit our jobs, and then what? The hordes of fans just come running?”

Barbara gave up on trying to get Link’s attention and skittered across the floor to where Rhett sat on the couch and jumped into his lap. Jade tried for a little while longer before doing the same.

“Come sit with us, Link,” Rhett urged.

“How can you be so calm about this?” Link demanded. “If we’re going to be spending the rest of our lives together, we need to figure out what to do with our savings. Am I supposed to save up for the both of us?”

“Link, you act like I’m never going to be able to find another job.” Rhett frowned suddenly. “Wait, what did you say?”

“I said, am I supposed to-”

“No.” Rhett ran his tongue over his lips. “Before that.”

Link stopped pacing, put his hands on his hips. “If we’re gonna be spending the rest of our lives together-”

“That!” Rhett felt - was it butterflies? He hadn’t felt that sensation in years. “You really want to spend the rest of your life with me?”

Now Link was red-faced. “Don’t change the subject.”

 _He means it, he really does._ A smile crept across Rhett’s face and he felt relieved from a tension he hadn’t realized he was holding. Even after dating for the past few months, there were times when he was blindsided by Link’s devotion to him. He was still watching Rhett now, head tipped to one side, the light reflecting off his glasses at an angle where Rhett couldn’t see his eyes.  


When he managed to gather his thoughts, they began the grueling process of talking through what they needed to do next, finally deciding to move into a cheaper apartment together.

“We practically live together anyway,” Rhett pointed out, gesturing towards the straightened bookshelves, the dust-free mantelpiece, and the new furniture he’d bought once Link had begun spending more time in his house. “I’m not too attached to this house, and I’m guessing you’re not too attached to yours either.”

As the afternoon turned into cold, windy evening, their talk relaxed, turned casual again. Rhett made some dinner and afterwards, he broke out a bottle of wine he’d forgotten was at the back of the cabinet. He put on a Haggard album, a favorite of both of theirs, and settled back on the couch with Link’s arm around him. The puppies, worn out from a day spent wrestling with each other, were dozing in their little beds by the couch.

“I still don’t know about leaving my job,” Link murmured.

“’s okay.” Rhett yawned.

“No...” Link set his glass aside, turned to nuzzle at Rhett’s neck. The touch of his lips made Rhett break out in goosebumps. “Listen, I don’t like change. But nothing going to get better unless we try something different, right?”

Rhett let his head sag back against the cushions as Link climbed into his lap and began mouthing at his neck in earnest.

“I trust you, Rhett,” he said softly. His hands were in Rhett’s hair, stroking firmly enough at the scalp to bring tears to his eyes. He grabbed a handful and pulled now, their lips meeting in a long, desperate kiss.

“Upstairs,” he whispered. It wasn’t a question.

They didn’t get much sleep that night.

~

In the morning, Rhett’s back was a mass of pain.

“I blame you for this,” he grumbled.

Link was already out of bed, carefully finger-combing his hair. He looked at Rhett through the mirror and grinned. “Whoops.”

“I’m serious.” Grimacing, Rhett carefully swung his legs over the edge of the bed. “Oh mother of-”

Link came over to steady him as he tried to stand. “Maybe you should stay in bed today?”

“Nope,” Rhett grunted. “I-” He bit back a gasp of pain. “I’m gonna walk around all day and make you feel bad about tryna break me in half last night.”

“Ha! You know you loved it.” Link stuck out his tongue, and for the briefest moment, Rhett wanted to feel that mouth on him again. But his back gave a threatening twinge and he decided to concentrate on standing up.

It took Rhett almost five minutes to get from the bedroom to the bathroom, and even longer to come back.

“Maybe you should stay in bed today,” Link suggested, his eyebrows raised in concern.

“I’m fine!” Rhett insisted through gritted teeth. “I just need to get to the office and start planning what we need to do next-”

“Nope.” Link guided him back to the room and into the bed. “You’re staying in bed today.”

“But-”

Link sighed. “Rhett, you can barely _walk_. You need to rest for a bit.”

He took the day off work, despite Rhett’s protests, making Rhett promise not to leave the bed unless he absolutely _had_ to. For his part, Rhett spent the day online, making a list of places to contact that might be interested in hearing them sing.

“Y’know, we could put some of our videos online,” he said when Link brought him pizza he’d ordered out for dinner. Rhett had tried to get Link to make some pasta, but his boyfriend hadn’t had the patience to go through with it.

Link snorted. “Who wants to watch two old guys singing?”

“It could be like a-a resume.” Rhett was talking more rapidly now, feeling that jolt of excitement that always came with a new idea. “Look, we could put our music online. Then when people ask what we do, we can just point them to our videos and they can see if they like us or not! We could make videos about other things too! It would help us get a whole new set of skills.”

Link shrugged. “Sure, why not. I have a camera.”

Rhett looked at him sharply. “You do?”

“Yeah. I had a boyfriend once who liked... um...” Link’s face was steadily turning redder. “He liked filming us...”

“He thought he was a porn star.”

“Yeah. Basically.” Link nodded, laughing sheepishly. “Spoiler alert: he wasn’t.”

Rhett was grinning now. “You still got any of those tapes?”

“No!” Link gave him a playful shove. When Rhett only laughed, he pouted a little. “Why would you want to watch me on a tape when you have me here right now.”

“Aw, I’m only teasin’. Rhett put out his arm. “Come here.”

~

Link put his notice in at work soon afterwards, telling Rhett he was determined to make things work.

Those first months after moving into their shared apartment were difficult. They seemed to argue almost incessantly at first. Link hated how Rhett never folded his washcloth when he was done in the shower. Rhett hated how Link was always losing his car keys. Once, they bickered for an hour because Rhett had gone to the store and had forgotten to buy cereal.

But at the end of the day, Rhett loved the feeling of working closely with Link. He loved how focused Link became, jaw set firmly as he edited another performance video or scrawled down some brainstormed ideas. He loved that, when he grew tired after a long night of work, he could rest his head on Link’s shoulder and feel his fingers in his hair. He didn’t think he’d ever get over the fact that he wasn’t on his own anymore, that he wasn’t trying to deal with his troubles alone.

Gradually, they made progress. They performed any chance they got, they took on freelance editing work to improve their video-making skills, they made videos for some friends of Link’s. At first, Rhett felt self-conscious about looking at himself on video footage, but they watched so much video that the feeling quickly faded.

Christmas passed and the new year came, but much like his birthday, Rhett barely noticed. He only remembered it was the holiday season because Link insisted on putting an old carving he’d done of a Christmas tree on their kitchen table.

Months went by. Winter snows came and went, followed by the gradual thawing and showers of early spring. One morning, Link checked their budget and let out a yell loud enough to make Jade, Barbara, and Rhett jump.

“We broke even this month!” he said, dancing across the room. He seized Rhett around the waist and kissed him hard before spinning away to dance with the dogs. “We’re not gonna be homeless!” he told Jade, his face alight.

Rhett just laughed, partially because Link looked ridiculous trying to dance on his knees with Jade, partially because he was glad that something positive had happened.

After that, things started looking up. Through word-of-mouth, they gained a small online following. They traveled a little to meet their - Rhett still had trouble with the word - fans, holding short concerts wherever they went. It was Link’s idea to push for actual sponsors, which went better than either of them could have hoped. Now they had more money to take longer trips, hold longer concerts, make better videos. Their audience grew and grew. They moved into a larger apartment, in the city this time.

That fall, they took their largest tour yet, traveling all over the country to perform in a ton of small shows.

After one such performance, while Link was still talking to a few lingering fans, Rhett slipped away to make sure their equipment had been packed away in the pickup truck. They’d hired a few people to help them out on this trip, but he still didn’t feel comfortable with turning over responsibility to someone who wasn’t Link.

It was a cool, clear night. Rhett stuck his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and looked up at the stars. He thought back to the previous year, when he and Link had first performed at the fall festival, when he’d first told Link, “I love you.” So much had changed since then.

The truck was locked, the equipment already stowed away beneath a tarp in the back. _Good._ Rhett’s thoughts turned towards their plans for after the concert. Dinner and a movie, probably. And maybe a little more-

“Rhett?” A woman’s voice. “That is you!” Rhett looked up.

When he saw her, he had a sickening flash back to the house Thousand Oaks, back where they yelled and fought and made promises neither of them could keep. When he saw her, his first urge was to run. His second was to curse.

Instead, he clenched his sweaty fists and ran his tongue over his chapped lips. She was even smaller than he remembered.

“H-hey, Julie.”


	16. Chapter 16

“All right, guys, thanks for comin’ out! We’ll be back here someday!” Link said his goodbyes to the last remaining fans and strode off to find Rhett. He was whistling, bouncing a little on his toes as he walked. Tonight had been a great show for a wonderfully responsive audience. They had one more show at a local music festival the next day before heading back home. Link was excited; as much as he enjoyed traveling, he always felt better once they were home. Nothing was quite as comforting as familiar surroundings.

“Rhett!” Link called. “You ready to go?” The little backstage dressing room was empty, so he headed towards the back door. “Rhett?”

He found him standing motionless outside by the pickup truck, the back of his head lit by the floodlight shining above the door. He was talking to a woman with long dark hair in a thick braid down her back. Both of them looked up when they heard him.

“Oh there you are. Hi.” Link flashed her a brief smile. “Were you at the show?”

“I was.” She returned the smile, but only faintly. “Never knew anyone could play recorder like that.”

Link laughed. “Thanks.”

There was something wrong here, but he couldn’t put his finger on it at first. They might as well have been carved from stone, statues staring at him with sad eyes.

“Link,” Rhett said, his voice cracked and weary, his face taut with discomfort. “This is Julie.”

For a moment, Link forgot himself. Somehow he was between them, Rhett’s hand on his arm the only thing holding him back. He was yelling, demanding to know, why was she here, why the hell was she here, was she trying to fuck with Rhett again, did she really think that-

“Oh _Link_. Stop. Please.”

There was so much hurt laced through those few words that it pained Link to hear. He grit his teeth.

“Why are you here?” he demanded again.

Julie seemed unfazed by his outburst. “I live in the area. Saw the post online about your tour and came out to see it. I wanted to talk to Rhett for a bit.” Her face was angular, striking, but with a haunted cast to it. “Are you his...”

“Boyfriend,” Link snapped. Rhett’s fingers tightened on his bicep, his grip uncomfortably sweaty but anchoring nonetheless.

Julie’s eyes widened. “Really? So, um, you found someone on the other side of the country, Rhett.”

“Yeah.”

“Why are you here?” Link said a third time, so angry he was trembling.

“Link, please, stop for a minute,” Rhett whispered. “We were just talking.”

“I’m not staying here long,” she said. “But I’d hoped to talk to Rhett privately.”

“Not a chance.” Link crossed his arms.

Julie looked from one to the other and back again. “All right.” She sighed. “I just came here because I wanted to tell you how sorry I am, Rhett.”

The hand on Link’s arm went slack.

“After you left, things got even more fucked up than you could imagine. My friends finally made me go away to get help. It took a long, long time.” There were tears glittering in her eyes, but her voice was steady. “I hurt you terribly, Rhett, and I’m so, so sorry for what I put you through. But I’m not here expecting you to forgive me. I just wanted to let you know that you were right.”

Then she was gone, her small figure crossing between streetlight and shadow as she strode away, across the lot, down the sidewalk, out of view.

And Link was left with a Rhett who had fallen to pieces.

~

Rhett didn’t speak, not on the drive back to the hotel, not in the elevator up to the fifth floor. His face was an ashen mask. When they were finally in their room, he brushed Link’s hands off and collapsed on the bed.

“Rhett...” Link didn’t know what to say. He tried a few words, but they fell on unheeding ears, so he finally went for a shower to give Rhett some time alone.

It was good that Julie had apologized, wasn’t it? Link had never gotten apologies from his exes, so he wasn’t sure. He was still shaking a little as he rinsed the soap from his body, so he couldn’t even imagine what Rhett must have been feeling.

When he left the shower, wearing nothing but a clean pair of underwear and the towel around his shoulders, he found Rhett watching TV. A baking show. He didn’t look up, not even when Link slid into the bed next to him.

“Learnin’ how to make cheesecake, huh?” He ran a hand through his damp hair. “Looks pretty good.”

“Yeah.” Rhett’s voice was hoarse, his eyes bloodshot.

“We should go to bed.” No response. “Are you okay?”

Rhett turned off the TV and tossed the remote away.

“I always wondered if I was gonna run into her again,” he said, his voice faint. “I even thought up this stupid little speech.” He leaned back against the headboard, eyes on the ceiling. “But when I saw her, my mind went blank.”

“So did mine, once you said who she was,” Link said. “Blank with rage.”

“Yeah.” Rhett chuckled weakly. “But she just wanted to talk a little, like we were friends. I guess... I guess I should be glad she got help? Glad we’re both in a better place now? I don’t know.” He closed his eyes. “It hurts to think.”

“You can get help too, you know,” Link reminded him. “Nothing wrong with that.” He put a hand on his arm, whispering, “But for now, you want me to help take your mind off things?” Rhett nodded without opening his eyes. “Lie down.”

Rhett complied and Link bent over him, kissing long and deep. At the faint taste of Rhett’s tears, he felt a sudden rush of protectiveness mingling with the warmth building in his gut. He loved Rhett _so_ dearly, so much that he was almost afraid to put it into words 

He climbed astride, holding onto Rhett’s shoulders for support, and pressed his hips downward as their mouths met again. The answering moan was all he needed. He was tempted to do more, teasing that hardening bulge in Rhett’s jeans the way he always did, but that wasn’t what either of them needed tonight.

Link undressed him slowly, reverently, before discarding his own briefs. He traced a hand over the smattering of freckles scattered over the softness of his belly. Then Rhett was bringing their faces together again, lips bruising, his hands in Link’s hair. There was nothing gentle about their movements now; Link felt lightheaded when he finally came up for air. Rhett’s hands were on his hips, his chest heaving. Link read the question in his eyes and nodded.

After a hasty application of a condom and some lube, Link took hold of Rhett’s cock and slowly lowered himself onto it. He braced himself with his knees and rolled his hips slowly, willing himself to relax around the throbbing heat inside him. Rhett’s grip on him tightened as he moved, his eyes glazed over. Link loved riding him, watching Rhett lose himself to the sensations around him. He loved Rhett’s hands on his hips, gripping so tightly that he knew he’d find bruises there in the morning.

“I need... more,” Rhett gasped, his voice high with desperation. “I want... want you in me.”

“Yeah?” Link didn’t stop moving. “How much?”

“I want you, Link.” His voice was trembling, pleading. “I want you, I need you, _please_.”

Link choked back a ragged groan. Begging wasn’t something Rhett did often, but when he did, it was almost enough to drive Link mad. There was more lube, another condom, and he was carefully easing himself into that tight ring of muscle. He watched as Rhett’s mouth drifted open, his teeth showing as his face twisted up in something between pleasure and pain.

“Harder,” he grunted. Link began to move, shallow thrusts, loving how Rhett’s body rose up to meet his. They kissed, mouths sloppy, hands fumbling to caress what they could.

“Harder, Link, _harder_.”

He braced himself with one hand on either side of Rhett’s shoulders and complied, pressing forward as forcefully as he could. Rhett pressed his head back into the pillows and pleaded for more, and Link fucked him, really _fucked him_ , hard enough to shove them both against the headboard. He almost felt as if he could go on forever like this, wrecking Rhett so beautifully beneath him.

Then Rhett cried out sharply, his body jerking beneath Link, and he came, gripping the bedsheets in knuckles gone white. Link was close, so close. He thrust faster, harder, and finally that moment of sweet release hit, leaving him shaking.

In the haze of the afterglow, Rhett pulled him down for one more kiss. Neither of them was willing to let the other go. They drifted off to sleep in a tangle of arms and legs and sheets.

~

Rhett opened his eyes to an unfamiliar pattern of sunlight across the ceiling. It took him a moment to remember where he was. Link was snoring with his dark head on his chest, their bodies still intertwined. Rhett didn’t want to move. Thinking about last night left him wanting to move even less.

He didn’t think he could forgive Julie, not yet. Thoughts of her still left him frustrated and angry. Maybe Link was right; maybe he _did_ need to get help. He was tired of thinking in circles when it came to her.

He told Link about this when he woke up, as they both hastily dressed and packed up their things.

“If you’re not ready to forgive her yet, that’s okay,” Link told him. “Forgiveness isn’t something you can force.” He laughed. “Trust me, it was years before my dad and I could have a normal conversation after he and my mom split up.”

“Yeah.” Rhett tossed a few pairs of socks listlessly into the suitcase. “You’re probably right.”

Link frowned. “You still want to do the last show tonight? We can always cancel.”

Rhett’s head snapped up. “We’re not canceling,” he said firmly. “It’s just one more show; I’ll be okay.”

Their last show was rather anti-climatic; only a small crowd of bored-looking college students attended and gave half-hearted applause. Rhett didn’t care. His thoughts were on home.

After one last day of traveling that seemed to stretch on for an eternity, they were back in their apartment.

Rhett hadn’t realized how much he missed the dogs until he caught sight of their apartment door. When they opened the door and were greeted by happy little barks and their dog-sitter’s reassuring voice, he sat down in the middle of the floor, laughing as they climbed all over him.

“I missed you!” he said. “Both of you!” Jade looked at him for a moment, tail wagging, before Barbara tackled her and the two of them wrestled madly on the floor.

When the dogsitter had gone, he and Link spent some time unpacking and playing with the dogs before finally collapsing in bed.

“You think we’re getting too old to tour?” Rhett asked.

“Hm.” Link yawned, brushed his messy hair back from his eyes. “Probably. Doesn’t matter though. We’re gonna be doing this together for a long time to come.”

Again, that jolt in his heart that always came when Link referenced their future together. “You really think so?”

Link only grinned at him.

~

One morning a week or so later, Link suggested that they go to the park with the dogs.

“A family outing,” he explained shortly when Rhett asked why. “That’s what families do together, right? Go to parks?”

It was a warm day for fall. Few people were about except for the occasional jogger. Link grew increasingly quiet as they walked, feet crunching through the leaves.

“Something wrong?” Rhett asked him.

“N-nope, not at all!” Link shook his head. “But, um, what’s that over there?”

“What?” Rhett looked in the direction Link was pointing, saw nothing but red and yellow leaves falling from the trees on either side of the path. He turned back to Link. “I don’t see-”

He broke off with a gasp.

Link was kneeling before him - actually kneeling - a tiny black box in his shaking hands. He looked pale.

“I-I hope this is all right,” he stammered. “I mean, just let it slip too early that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you that time we were tryna to decide what to do about music. I wasn’t supposed to say that until now.”

_Is he really-?_

“But it’s still true,” Link continued, his voice growing stronger. “Still a hundred percent true. I-I mean, I can’t even imagine myself being with anyone else in the world but you.” He swallowed, blinking back the beginnings of tears. “Rhett, will you marry me?

_yes_

_Yes_

_SAY YES_

Rhett sank to his knees and pulled Link close to him. He felt almost giddy.

“Yes,” he whispered and Link’s entire body relaxed against his.

A low chuckle. “Well, put it on then before you decide to change your mind.”

The ring was a plain black tungsten band with a single emerald in the center. Rhett couldn’t keep his eyes away from it.

“I tried to get the stone to be the same shade of green as your eyes,” Link told him when they finally began walking again, this time arm-in-arm. “It’s not dark enough, actually.”

Rhett turned his hand back and forth, watching how the stone caught the morning light. He was still shaky with happy disbelief. _He still means it, he does, he really wants to spend the rest of his life with me._ “W-what made you decide to propose now?”

Link shrugged. “Wanted it to be a surprise. I’ll tell you a secret. I was thinking of it way back when you were talking about me quitting my engineering job, but then we got so busy with music that I let the plans fall by the wayside.” He grinned, all teeth this time. “You wouldn’t believe how stressful it was carrying this thing around the past few days.”

Rhett chuckled and pressed a kiss on top of Link’s head. “Well, I love it. I...” He swallowed and tried again. “I’m really glad...”

Link nudged him in the ribs. “You’re not going to cry again, are you?”

Rhett shook his head, clenched his jaw, but a few stray tears still escaped. He stopped walking and pulled Link close to him, inhaling the soft smell of his dark hair. There was so much to say, so much that he was tongue-tied.

Memories flooded over him thick and fast. He remembered those long, lonely days that Link had pulled him from, the days he’d filled with work in a vain effort to keep the loneliness at bay, the empty nights spent whittling silently on the porch, the hours spent waiting for Link to come home so he’d have someone to talk to. He remembered the first time he’d touched Link, when they were play-fighting over the water hose before Andrew had broken things up. He remembered the first time they’d kissed, the taste of alcohol still strong on Link’s tongue. He remembered them learning how to work together, the arguments they’d worked through and the music they’d created. He remembered all of it and now he didn’t care that his vision was blurry with tears because he was clinging the most important person in the world. 


End file.
